The Song of Names

Name: The Song of Names
Genre: Drama
Released: December 25, 2019
Duration: 113 min
Rating: 51
Cast: Amy Sloan, Catherine McCormack, Clive Owen, Eddie Izzard, Gerran Howell

2019

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 14 Ratings

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6.9

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6.9	Your Score
6.9	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 14 Ratings

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The Song Of Names

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Movie Details & Credits

Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: December 25, 2019 | PG-13

Starring: Amy Sloan, Catherine McCormack, Clive Owen, Eddie Izzard, Gerran Howell, Jonah Hauer-King, Julian Wadham, Max Macmillan, Misha Handley, Richard Bremmer, Saul Rubinek, Stanley Townsend, Tim Roth

Summary: Tim Roth and Clive Owen star in an emotional detective story spread over two continents and a half century. Beneath the film's stunning and pulsing musical revelations burn the horror of a war and the lost souls extinguished from history.

Director: François Girard

Genre(s): Drama

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 113 min

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Critic Reviews

Gary Goldstein

Dec 23, 2019

It’s a profound, affecting and beautifully told chronicle of faith, family, obsession and the language of music. Read full review

Jim Slotek

Dec 23, 2019

The pieces are there for a profound piece of work, and The Song of Names’ high points are worth the occasional narrative slog. Read full review

RogerEbert.com Glenn Kenny

Dec 26, 2019

Literate, sober, soulful, and considered as it is, the movie is also a little overly scrupulous in its tastefulness. Read full review

Kate Taylor

Dec 20, 2019

Mainly, this movie chatters when it should sing. Read full review

Mick LaSalle

Dec 31, 2019

There’s a mystery at the heart of The Song of Names, but it isn’t much of a mystery, and once it’s solved, the movie loses what little interest it has. Though not exactly a Holocaust drama, the film is one in which the Holocaust figures tangentially, but crucially. Yet the movie’s overall effect is strangely inert. Read full review

Michael Joshua Rowin

Dec 21, 2019

In the end, the film is unable to bridge the gap between the emotions it elicits and the messages it imparts. Read full review

Simon Abrams

Dec 23, 2019

There’s ultimately too much strained seriousness in The Song of Names' dramatically flimsy and symbolically heavy episodic narrative, making Girard and Caine’s already dated feel-good historical drama seem especially tacky. Read full review

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User Reviews

Apr 4, 2020

I absolutely loved this movie, a period piece set during WW II in which the horrors of Treblinka play a pivotal role. The plot was compelling, and it held my interest throughout the film. The acting was superb, the musical score was gorgeous, and the overall look of the movie wasI absolutely loved this movie, a period piece set during WW II in which the horrors of Treblinka play a pivotal role. The plot was compelling, and it held my interest throughout the film. The acting was superb, the musical score was gorgeous, and the overall look of the movie was beautiful.

I cannot begin to understand the mediocre reviews the critics gave to this movie, especially when so many of them seemed to think "Jojo Rabbit"--a weird and monumentally unsuccessful attempt at satirizing Hitler and the Nazis--was worthy of consideration for Oscars. "The Song of Names" has a bit of an art-house air to it, but it is precisely the kind of film that intrigues moviegoers in search of more than a cinematic display of special effects.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

chrgusa

Jan 14, 2020

This is a hauntingly authentic and beautiful story of friendship between two extraordinarily gifted individuals during a tragic time in history. The power of culture is vividly on display with the brilliant acting of the young actors and their adult counterparts carrying this story throughThis is a hauntingly authentic and beautiful story of friendship between two extraordinarily gifted individuals during a tragic time in history. The power of culture is vividly on display with the brilliant acting of the young actors and their adult counterparts carrying this story through to its powerful and profound conclusion.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

GreatMartin

Jan 21, 2020

There have been many films about the Holocaust covering it from many different angles so a new film must be in the excellent category because 'good' isn't good enough and though "The Song Of Names" has some interesting sections it has too much working against it.

One of the interestingThere have been many films about the Holocaust covering it from many different angles so a new film must be in the excellent category because 'good' isn't good enough and though "The Song Of Names" has some interesting sections it has too much working against it.

One of the interesting parts is the name of the film itself and if there really is a song of names and after some research, I have to do more research because I haven't found a definite answer yet!

The screenplay by Jeffrey Caine, based on a novel by Norman Lebrecht, goes back and forth from the 1930s to the 1980s with 3 different actors playing the 2 main characters Davidl Rapopart and Martin Simmonds when it could have easily been done chronologically.

The story is about a 12-year-old violin protege, Davidl who is brought from Poland to England by his father hoping to find a place for him to escape from the nazis. A music publisher, impressed by the boy's talent, agrees to take him in and after a minor skirmish with the publisher's son who is a couple of years younger, the 2 become fast friends. At the age of 21 Davidl is to give his musical debut completely subsidized by the publisher but never shows up and has disappeared. The film then follows Martin as he looks for his friend and tries to find out why he disappeared.

There are many awkward scenes and some that take your breath away such as the one where Martin and his wife walk through Treblinka, a Nazi death camp, where tall, standing stones memorialize the dead. Some in the audience may not be aware that Davidl having a bar mitzvah means he is now a man at 13. The musical moments shine while it is hard to really rate the performances due to the going back and forth through the decades.

"The Song Of Names" is a good movie but not quite good enough to attract enough of an audience.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

MarkTakayama

Nov 30, 2021

This is a very Jewish movie. I am not familiar with their religion and culture. But I still like it.The plot is complicated. There are three eras that are 1940's, 1951, and 1986 in the movie. You need to watch the movie carefully, otherwise, you might not follow the story. The JewishThis is a very Jewish movie. I am not familiar with their religion and culture. But I still like it.The plot is complicated. There are three eras that are 1940's, 1951, and 1986 in the movie. You need to watch the movie carefully, otherwise, you might not follow the story. The Jewish violinist is very strange. he disappeared many times. From a Japanese perspective, he is very irresponsible. I guess you have a different opinion if you are Jewish. Overall, this is a very Jewish movie. Unfortunately, I am not a Jewish man.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

alejandro970

May 6, 2023

What at least gives flavor to this drama is the music. The story lacked something for the viewer to immerse in it and the performances are wasted, especially Tim Roth.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

JLuis_001

Apr 30, 2020

Sober and sufficiently well acted but also inert and boring. There's never a payoff.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Mauro_Lanari

Nov 11, 2020

(Mauro Lanari)
[.....] Film about the Shoah melodramatically below average.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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