I used to love it on Mister Rogers or Sesame Street when they'd show assembly lines where things like candy were being made. I once got to tour the Andersen window plant to see an assembly line in person. I have this thing for watching shit get made. That's one reason I thought this movie was cool as hell - an assembly line in super slo-mo! I also happen to love piano music. It might be my favorite instrument. I'm a big fan of people like Art Tatum and Oscar Peterson and Fats, both Waller and Domino.This movie follows the year-long process of making a Steinway grand piano. I like how it was shot and how they interspersed famous pianists visiting Steinway to select the right piano for their performances. It was also cool to see how diverse the Steinway employees are.
The film's website provides a lot of great additional information, including how to order copies. Check it out HERE.
Netflix it HERE.
Edited to add: Welcome to all my visitors from Crooks & Liars! There are some lame attempts at political humor below.
11 comments:
Hmm. I love pianos but I'm not sure I could sit through the assembly line stuff. As for watching shit get made, the only show I like for that is "Unwrapped." Mmmmmmm....candy.
When I was a field engineer for NBI, we put some of our equipment into the Pepsi bottling and canning plant here. I got an inside tour, and it was just amazing!
I share that love of watching shit get made. Love the films inside factories. I do play piano, so I"m going to have to put this one on my Netflix queue
I move pianos. Funny how the film ends before the final step, moving this enormous and delicate object into a beautiful home, without damaging either one.
I guess at that point, "magic happens."
Cool stuff.
My family were also piano manufacturers in NYC.
I remember dad and Henry Steinway sitting around our library eating grilled cheeze sandwiches and watching football. He was a very nice man.
Congrats on getting linked on Crooks and Lairs.
I love explanatory documentaries, much preferred over ones that pitch a POV.
Saw this one one TV a while back, enjoy4ed enormously.
But your post caught me because of the word 'documentary', as I just watched one last night that I NEED to recommend: "Good Hair". As a liberal, knowledgable white guy who grew up in the midwest, this was just a jaw-dropper: Blacks are <15% of the US population, but spend 80% of all hair-product dollars in America. Oh, and Chris Rock does ALL the interviews, with great questions. Lesson learned as a guy: NEVER touch a black woman's hair if you'd like to use that hand again.
Cal- I just saw "Good Hair" as well. I thought it was great, too, and would recommend it. Being a white guy from a predominantly white suburb who now lives in a very white small town, that was a world I knew nothing about.
I've seen the film and loved it! So thoughtful and so much more outside the assembly line, which they don't even have. it's all hand done... so rare these days. I was surprised by how moved I was was. A lot of emotion in those craftsmen! Sorry you missed the moving scenes... there were actually two. The one when the little boy gets his first piano was particularly poignant. My wife cried. Thanks for bringing this to our attention. Great stuff!
Anonymous- Don't get me wrong. I thought it was a very moving film. I thought many of the interviews with the employees were very poignant. I tend to keep my doc recommendations simple so that people can discover things for themselves. Thanks for the comment!
The plot sounds similar to The Red Violin - did you ever see that? I think you should if you haven't.
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