I had an orchestra teacher like this. The man is a saint with endless enthusiasm. I ditched his class one day to play a gig. He found out and thought it was the coolest thing. He also loaned me the school's bass rig for the summer. (75 jazz bass and Bassman 100 amp) Not only did he let me use it, he hauled it to my house........... Love ya Gerald Lopes! I'm forever grateful to you.
my dad was a high school teacher, when I practised piano in the afternoon(I was a serious piano student) he would sit with me in the lounge where our piano was when he came home from work, listen to me,not complaining about all the mistakes I made, and just be with me, as an adult, now that is the times I miss the most with him
The time together made it valuable. That was the reward. I knew some kids who didn't have anything that good. I was lucky. I remember my dad playing his guitar after work and sometimes harmonizing with my mom; before the distraction of television. Families often socialized together.
To those of you thinking, "'Play the sunset' and suddenly she's good, pffft, yeah right!" please recall that earlier in the movie we find out that she has been playing clarinet for years before and knows the notes and the technique. She just had a hangup on that one note and her self-consciousness got her thinking she was terrible. Mr. Holland just gave her a confidence boost is all. And 30 years later she became governor!
Also, specifically, she was getting in her own way in the form of too much tension and lip on her mouthpiece, and he sees toward the end that the tension is gone from her face, because she is "in the zone" and might--for instance--start drooling if she was a guitar player instead of a clarinet player. That's a good sign though, haha. It means her brain is not getting in her way and that ends up making her embouchure good in the process.
Unfortunately, my band teacher was a dick. He ruled with fear, and only his personal pets got letters for their jackets. Out of 237 people in the band, less than 12 received letters. I got mine taken away for being 5 seconds late to the stands, all because I chose to allow a handicapped woman in a wheelchair to exit the stands before I went up the ramp.
@@Dakarn damn That's awful. Like the original poster, my teacher was great as well. I wish schools had more teachers who really cared about their students.
I think most teachers go into teaching encouraging and wonderful. But after years of being hemmed in by corresive restrictions and regulations, they lose their soul.
Not since Close encounters & Jaws have I ever saw Richard Dryfessput so much heart into a movie. This Movie really hit close to home I went to Vietnam a year after I graduated (1970). RIP Aker Blik
no shit? God Bless you. at least the worst in my life was two awful parents. I was born in '83, so the closest I got to Vietnam was some damned Vietnam enlistee nightmare based off the drama-comedy 'The Wonder Years'. Winnie was begging me not to go to Vietnam. I could see my uniform. She got older and older, then elderly- but I stayed the same age.🙄😢 probably that meant, I died.
Sharma ji wikipedia.org/wiki/-ji service of occupying, meddling with.. sovereign nations¿ engaging in the odd war crime or two? furthering personal, political agendas of meglomaniacal powers that be? installing rogue governments, scoundrels as pseudo governments? well surely then 🙃thank you Grandpa Mike🙃 for your "service"
I read a story in which he (Aker Bilk) said he got to hate that song because that's the one song EVERYBODY wanted him to play, but he played it anyway a)because he wanted please his audience and b) it was a great song
This scene was my inspiration to learn the clarinet. And oddly enough, Stranger On The Shore was the first song I learned on it! The joys of being a music geek... :)
Great movie with a critically important lesson. The arts are needed, they make life worth living. I've always loved this scene too because you know it has to be rough to be the one with "no talent," It gets inside her head until it becomes self fulfilling prophecy.
I was a musician for 21 years and everything he said is so true. 💖 I know that feeling very well when you close your eyes and your soul starts flowing with the music. It's like an out of body experience. That's the point in time where other people wonder why musicians make those strange body movements and facial expressions. We don't have control over this and we don't care because at that point in time we ARE the music.
The irony is Alicia Witt, the actress in this scene, is a classically trained pianist. She once earned her living playing piano at a Los Angeles hotel. Today, in addition to acting, Alicia writes and sings her own music.
WOW! It’s been a long, long time since I have heard “Strangers By The Shore“ by Acker Bilk. This was my father’s favorite song and I used to play first chair clarinet in the Junior high school band. My father used to make me play it over, and over and over again and the truth be told… I never got tired of playing it. This was in 1965. The next year one of my childhood friends was brutally killed in Vietnam and I went from his funeral to the Army Recruiting station and volunteered for; Airborne/paratrooper training, Special Forces /Green Beret training and Vietnam. I went to Southeast Asia when I was 17 in December 1966 and came back when I was 20. This was in the year; 1966, 1967, 1968, and 1969. I never picked up the clarinet again and only last week I found it stored away in my attic. My father died on my birthday in March 1997 and I regret not playing it for him once I came back from Vietnam.
Mr. Holland reminds me so much of my band teacher, Mr. Wagner. He taught us not to just play to music that was written on the page, he taught us to have fun with it as well. He was the reason I stayed in band for all 6 years of my educational life. He taught me not to give up no matter what. He made us appreciate the music we were playing, didn't matter if we liked it or not, at least we appreciated it.
Ive played viola professionally now for 3 years. My music teacher was honestly just like Mr Holland, and I thank him everyday in my heart. One of the most influential and special people in my life. He introduced me to a whole new world and language of what we call "Music."
My favourite movie. Evokes so many emotions for me. I've been musical since 4 years old. I've gone on to teach so many youngsters how to play, it's nice when they recognize you years later as the one that gave them that skill.
I was a Freshman 2nd chair French Horn player in High school, and two weeks before our first concert our Senior First chair Hornist quit in a dispute with the new band director. There was a Horn solo in one of the pieces that included notes above the staff that I had never played before. My director took hours of time with me during study halls and before and after school to work with me. When it came time to play those notes in the concert I nailed it. Every time I see this scene I bawl like a baby because if it hadn't been for Miss Mary Ulery I could have never achieved that solo or had the success I've had in life. Hard work and determination pays off.
I 💖 Mr. Holland's Opus!🎥This was such a warm, inspiring and extremely powerful movie😥😃I played the Clarinet from Grade 7-12 and I always loved this scene!📽 Gertrude reminds me of who I was in high school and Mr. Holland reminds me of my music teachers in middle school and high school. 📽This movie even inspired me to play Stranger on the Shore on my Clarinet. 😥😃This scene really stuck to me in high school and it still does to this day. 😥😢😭😪😓😃😃😃
Man, I really feel for Gertrude. Growing up surrounded by talented family members striving for success and feeling pressured into it. Learning a talent because you believe it's the only way you'll be noticed by them and not invisible.
This movie reminds me of my own high school music director. He was a wonderful man and I credit him with literally saving my life in high school. I miss him. RIP Matthew C. Weston.
I would have dropped out of high school if not for band and orchestra and the music director, George C. Alter at Southwest High School in Kansas City, Missouri. He was the best teacher ever.
Mike, it sounds like we had similar great men in our lives. My parents would not have allowed me the option of dropping out so my way out would have been to walk in front of a bus or train. Choir and Ensemble (the more "elite" singing group) gave me a place where I could succeed. Mr. Holland's Opus always brings a tear and I always have trouble watching even isolated scenes from it.
@spokev - I get it. In our lives, we have a handful of teachers that influence our lives ( I wish there were more ). For me, it was Mr. Horn at Bishop McDevitt HS in Wyncote, PA. He was my Humanities teacher. He exposed us to classical music and theater. But, he also accepted the music of us kids (I'm 68). He told us to bring in an album and play any cut we wanted. I brought in Tom Lehrer's Vatican Rag. It was a Catholic HS, and he had no problem with it. He taught almost forever, the last 3 years pro-bono because he loved teaching so much.
Maybe they weren't as obvious as this Hollywood version, but I bet you had some teachers that taught you more than just the curriculum. There usually isn't any big moment like this, it's mostly like a steady drop of water on a rock. I taught for 20 years, and there was no big celebration when I retired, no outpouring of thanks. But I think I made some difference in my students' lives, some more than others. I'm satisfied with that.
My teacher of a lifetime was Mr. Myers. He may have been a kindergarten teacher, us too young to understand the important lessons he instilled in us, but he was my Mr. Holland. So much love and patience and understanding and as a gay man, he accepted every single young child as they were. He died of aids in the late 90’s but I know he touched many lives in his years as a teacher and I was proud to have him in mine.
I've always said that you need really good clarinets in an ensemble almost more than anything else. Really good clarinets elevate, but out of all sections, a bad clarinet section is the most cringe inducing.
One teacher, one student at a time, over any given period of time and those students lives WIn a way that , while it might not seem like much now, it sure makes a HUGE difference in anyones life who has tried,failed many times and finally, when it really counts, they win. Thats a win for the teacher but more importantly, a HUGE win for ALL . HATS OFF!!!!!
I probably watched this movie once when it came out... ugh, 23 years ago?! I was IN high school band when this came out, haven't been back to it since. I released an indie CD last year, and in my vanity thought I had it all figured it out. But, man, putting on "Louie Louie" of all things, that scene, that dialogue, that was just a game-changer for me. I've sold very few CDs, probably because I did something that was technically difficult that didn't care enough about being fun. That matters so much and I've got to remember this a lot better going forward than I did when I was a kid.
“Life is like music for its own sake. We are living in an eternal now, and when we listen to music we are not listening to the past, we are not listening to the future, we are listening to an expanded present.” - Alan Watts
@ Resonant Totality - Oft said - but I would like to say that Music is the Soundtrack of our lives. Who doesn't hear a song that brings back a memory. And, I was recently at an event in our town of Glenside, PA. A small group was playing, and a bunch of kids 3-10 were dancing their hearts out. All I could think is that this why music matters.
Music is one of the only things that bring people together. Politics divides. Religion divides, but every country needs an anthem and God needs a choir.
My favorite part of the movie, because my childhood piano teacher taught me the very same concept during a time of intense frustration for me: "Play the sunset". Thirty-five years later, I remember that moment like it was yesterday, because it was the turning point for my love of music. I spoke those words just as Mr. Holland paused, before he said them himself, and my wife was amazed. All that he said about music, "fun, heart, feeling", is absolutely true. What a great and insightful scene.
Really glad to see the impact this made on peoples' lives. Anybody out there that is the age that you remember this movie from 1995 choir/orchestra/band class like I do? (orchestra strings in my case) I watched this as like a h.s. sophomore I think and never before (totally forgot about it) and now am watching it as an adult wow how my perspective on why this movie was cool has changed completely in a good (actually fabulous) way.
I'm a retired middle school band teacher from Minnesota. I think the film is superb...but have always felt a little funny when students and parents told me that I remind them of Mr. Holland....perhaps that's because I've been informed that I have almost no ego. I always was determined that they played technically as good as they could. What has been affirming to me is that many former students and their parents have said that I made band fun for them. I couldn't have asked for a better and meaningful compliment.
♥️❤️❤️💝💛💚💙💜❤️❤️💖💗💓💞 I remember watching this movie in the theater when it first came out. I'd been in band for 12 years of my life so this movie really came home for me. My main instrument had been the clarinet and I was a redhead back then. Could this young lady have possibly have touched me any more? Not at all. Even as I write this I am fighting back tears and losing that fight. I must watch this whole film again. 😢😥😪❤️♥️💘💕💞💗💖
We had a music teacher in my school, Mr. Heslip. He taught band, choir, and the fine arts. Nicest guy on the planet. He was our Mr. Holland. I haven't heard anything about him in a long while, but last I heard, he was still teaching the music and fine arts classes. I hope he's still going great and teaching amazing work.
I had a choir director in high school that had a similar impact on me that Mr. Holland had on Gertrude. Just like Gertrude, I didn't have hardly anything I felt I was good at. One of my brothers was a varsity soccer player, one brother was great at doing theater, my mother was good at golf, and my father got many deer each hunting season. My choir director helped me believe in myself when I was about to quit and gave me private vocal lessons. He wasn't just a teacher to me, but he was my friend.
This song was also used in the movie 'The Majestic' where Jim Carrey was literally a "stranger on the shore" when he washed up on the shore of a small town.
I am now still playing my clarinet (31 years). In the worship orchestra at Grace Baptist Church (Bakersfield, CA). Substitute band/orchestra/choir teacher for a local school district.
Not bad considering she played on a dried out reed that was sitting on the mouthpiece for a couple of days. To play as well as she did with a dry and warped reed is nothing less than astounding. Kudos to her!
maybe he replaced it for her so she would have the best chance of sounding good? he is obviously a considerate and intelligent person, and considering he prearranged the practice session, it makes sense he would have thought of that.
@@TheSighphiguy Maybe so, but she didn't have time to wet the reed (a crucial practice for reed players), nor do any of the most basic warm-ups that a beginner would need.
I miss my saxophone teacher. I could play, I could play well, but I couldn't read music, I couldn't play something put in front of me. Lemme listen to it once or twice and I'd play it perfectly. Put the same music in front of me and I wouldn't know where to start. He had so much patience, that guy. Invited me to his home, (back in the day before such things were considered creepy), taught me to play Tenor Sax (instead of my Alto), he put a lot of work into me. 25 years later, I never did learn how to read music properly, I moved from saxophone to brass to drums to bass to multitrack sequencing. But the love of creating music never left me. I wonder what happened to him. I wish him well.
Beautiful display of what the path of enlightenment can do if we give it the chance it often deserves... encouragement!...... nurtured love has no limit to what flows from the heart and soul......
The scene where he sings and signs Beautiful Boy by John Lennon... to his son...was the best scene. This is a good one... but that scene is everything!
*_Mr. Holland's Opus_* is the kind of movie for boys and- sure, girls knowing they're growing out of cartoon mornings. There's some heartache, some coolness of "what was cool, back then" and the Hollands are a model couple and parents to Cole. it's one of the best movies, ever. Richard Dreyfuss has a special place in Heaven- but he's so talented, we want him to get to +100.
Alicia Witt is actually a brilliant musician. Her main instrument is the piano - and she plays it absolutely superbly (remember her playing the piano on Cybill? That's really her playing) - but she probably could work her way around any instrument she could put her hands on. Playing the clarinet poorly was probably harder for her than playing it well would have been.
I would love to be able to have the kind of impact he had with his students and staff! Can you imagine making that kind of difference every day in so many people's lives? The scene at the end of the movie as well says it all!
I don't know what kind of job you have, but you can make a difference in people's lives no matter what you do. It's relatively simple. Do your best. Treat people with respect. Be kind. Admit when you make a mistake, and forgive others who make mistakes. Listen more, talk less. And remember that this is a movie. Real life doesn't often look like this. No one may ever sing your praises, but if you do those things, you will have made a difference.
This is one of those films that had such a great story and message that it defied the fact that it has the word "opus" in the title. There is no way in hell that would fly nowadays. Same thing with The Shawshank Redemption, only that one did suffer at the box office, due to poor marketing and that it had the "Redemption" in the title.... and it only became a bonafide hit from DVD sales. It shows up in a lot of people's Top 10 favorite movie lists, and is arguably the best film to have tanked at the box office.
NO reason it wouldn't fly today. What, inspirational movies are dead? Hardly. In fact, that's why the rare television series or movie with inspiring characterization and plot development DOES do incredibly well - it's because we're so saturated with formulaic crap and lazy storytelling we're desperate for something real and heartfelt. Mr. Holland's Opus fits the bill.
I was so moved by this movie. I can't watch it again, ever. It was about a life that was honored. I looked so hard to find a place to fit in. I envy this character. I have about 20 years left on this planet. And I still have not found a marketable skill.
We are all Mr.Holland's Opus.We need more Teachers like Mr.Opus.I know he's a fictions character,but they,like him,are out there.If you are a teacher or thinking of becoming one,please be like him.My band and choir directors in high school made it fun.It made a not so good time a better time.That has made all the difference for the rest of my life.I'm 59years old and they ate the teachers I remember.Hail Mr.Aurori and Miss Edwards at Baldwin Senior High School,Baldwin, NY!
...geez...this video was uploaded in 2008 & here it is 2015 & no one has posted the fact that Gertrude was played by Alicia Witt who is not only a well known & successful actor but a professional singer-songwriter and pianist...
She couldn't do it because when she try to do it, it compare her self with her brother , Sister, mother & father. when she drop that then she did it great. this scene very good example for when any body try to do something and compare himself whit other.
