Watching Seymour: An Introduction is like receiving a motivational speech from someone who is not just the best at what they do, but also the best person they can possible be.

| Apr 9, 2020

Gorgeously straightforward yet emotional.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Aug 5, 2019

This is classy, dynamic filmmaking that reduced me to tears.

| Original Score: 8.5/10 | Mar 14, 2019

Academy Award or not, Hawke and Bernstein make a better case than Chazelle and J.K. Simmons.

| Sep 28, 2018

Whether teaching, reviewing new pianos or demonstrating how he plays a specific piece, Bernstein radiates joy and enthusiasm.[Full review in Spanish]

| Sep 28, 2018

Gossip isn't what [director Ethan] Hawke is after. No, what he's after is no less than the secret of a happy, satisfying artistic life - heck, of a happy, satisfying life in general - and the delightful Bernstein seems to have figured it out.

| May 16, 2018

Whether or not you've studied piano, or any musical instrument, it is fascinating to observe Bernstein's gentle but rigourous technique in correcting errors, training the musicians' bodies, and helping them to locate their own place within the piece.

| Nov 21, 2017

With this film, [Ethan] Hawke has given the world the gift of being taught to see the world - and music - as [Seymour] Bernstein does, and it's a great one.

| Aug 14, 2017

Seymour is intriguing, mainly because it brings together two uniquely talented artists -- Hawke and Bernstein -- and captures them in thought and ocasionally in conversation, sometimes together but more often on their own.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 21, 2016

Not only a very fine documentary, but a warm and likable one to boot.

| Jun 18, 2016

There's no pressing story to tell, or even especially vital achievement to record, so the film probably counts as bit of self-indulgence from Hawke, but it's got a very good heart.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 24, 2016

More crucial to [the film] than Bernstein's personality, endearing as it is, is the music he plays.

| Original Score: B- | Feb 26, 2016

It's quiet, considered and spellbinding, with a great deal of beautiful music - some of it performed exquisitely by Bernstein himself.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 18, 2015

Bernstein seems like a man who has found fulfillment in his life, and his students seem fulfilled as well. His story is compelling and his words seem to be loaded with wisdom. He is a fascinating character.

| Original Score: A | Nov 29, 2015

A lovely, purposefully small movie that just dusts the edges of many deep concerns that Bernstein, now in his mid-80s, is still wrestling with.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 12, 2015

It's a poetic statement, but the reason the music and the man stick with us is because they inspire us to work harder at whatever we are doing, regardless of whether it can be played on a piano.

| Nov 5, 2015

...a gentle yet insistent interrogation of a monkish master, an 88-year-old piano teacher named Seymour Bernstein who, in the grip of terrible stage fright compounded by existential dread, gave up a promising concert career ...

| Original Score: 87/100 | Jun 21, 2015

An idiosyncratic, very personal portrait of an inspiring musical sensibility.

Full Review | Apr 28, 2015

The great joy of the film, whether you know piano or not, is watching Bernstein teach.

| Original Score: B | Apr 10, 2015

Hawke's cinematic etude may not unlock all the mysteries of music, but "Seymour: An Introduction" is universal enough to be understood by a bananafish.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Apr 9, 2015