Itzhak (2017) User Reviews

Enjoyable

[proud_luddite · 7/10 · 11 July 2018]

The life of renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman is the subject of this documentary following Perlman and his family and friends as he and others reflect on his past as well as his current endeavors. The film follows his childhood in Israel dealing with a physical handicap due to polio and his family's eventual move to the USA. "Itzhak" is an Israeli/US co-production.

Perlman's magnificent talent and achievements easily make him a cultural icon. One of the wonderful surprises of this film is how unpretentious he is. He speaks in a very pleasant manner and could easily pass off as a friendly neighbour. He also shows a delightful sense of humour especially in a scene with long-time friend Alan Alda when he makes an observation about getting older.

This film includes wonderful footage including Perlman's appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" six decades ago when he was thirteen years old. In addition to paying tribute to the man, the film is also dedicated to the arts. There is a touching scene when Itzhak and his wife Toby explain how music moves the soul in ways that separate humans from other species.

There are many beautiful scenes of Perlman on the violin. My only wish is that at least one of them was played from beginning to end in this film. Otherwise, the movie is quite enjoyable. - dbamateurcritic

Interesting man with a great career

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 12 August 2018]

These slightly over 80 minutes we got here are the most recent work by experienced documentary filmmaker Alison Chernick and the title "Itzhak" will make it obvious immediately to music lovers, especially violin lovers, that the subject here is Itzhak Perlman, a 4-time Emmy award nominee, but (despite Schindler's List) not an Oscar winner. The running time makes it obvious that this is a documentary that does not lose itself in pointless additions and recordings, but has some decent focus. It is either all about Perlman in the now interacting with his wife or family, with students or visiting baseball games. Or old footage like black-and-white videos from when he is considerably younger. There is a lot of talk about his illness in the sense of how people saw this instead of his talent a lot of the time, but you can say for sure that talent has prevailed looking at the career of the man who is in his 70s now. There were moments when I found him really likable and others when not so much. Alan Alda is a gem though, which becomes obvious quickly, also from just a few scenes with him as he seems to be a friend of the Perlman's. In another scene there is a scene that is almost obligatory for liberal Hollywood now with Perlman receiving a speech by former President Obama with Streisand (for whatever reason) and Spielberg in the audience. But the most touching scene by far, the one that really moved me is when we hear his tune from Schindler's List of course and he plays it on an old violin with a very special connection to Jews in history and with that I am of course referring to the Nazi years here in Germany. He also says it that the theem from Schindler's List is the one people always want to hear and I found myself leaning back in my chair when it could be heard twice within a very short period of time and closed my eyes and just enjoyed the beauty of it all. Violin is my favorite instrument to listen to and this is probably my favorite violin piece, maybe even a contender for favorite piece regardless which instrument. Even if you don't know Schindler's List or don't care about it, it won't leave you unimpressed. There's just no way, it is such a thing of beauty. So yeah the first hour was not always smooth or insightful, but it was good to watch nonetheless and the scene I just mentioned is greatness even. Not enough though to get me to give this a rating above 3 out of 5. Nonetheless a positive recommendation for sure and I think you should check this one out. Also curious how much awards attention it will score in the next month. In general, I would say it's not a subject that will really make a huge wave, but it got some already, so maybe I am wrong and we will see it even at the Oscars. So yeah, watch it.

Lovely documentary

[joshmfreund · 10/10 · 9 April 2018]

Itzhak is a lovely documentary made by a veteran filmmaker. It's full of laughs, and Itzhak Perlman jumps off the screen. A wonderful choice to watch on movie night.

Wonderful & Engaging Documentary

[larrys3 · 9/10 · 26 January 2019]

This is a wonderful documentary, directed by Alison Chernick, bringing to the screen the larger-than-life personality and brilliant violin playing of Itzhak Perlman.

I'll admit I know little about classical music but when Perlman performs on screen I was just spellbound. The film also highlights his long time marriage and partnership with his wife Dory and how they share many of the same interests, including wanting to help talented young musicians.

Overall, I just found this doc to be extremely well presented and engaging and, as mentioned, the music of Perlman is just magnificent.

Amazing movie...must see

[citykitty-73946 · 10/10 · 16 April 2018]

A wonderful movie.The 2 hour movie seemed to be 1/2 hour long.

Excellent biography of a great man

[Red-125 · 10/10 · 3 August 2018]

Itzhak (2017) is a brilliant documentary written and directed by Alison Chernick. It stars Itzhak Perlman and his wife, Toby Perlman.

Itzhak Perlman is the leading violinist of our day. However, even more important than that, he's a mensch. Perlman is clearly a thoughtful and joyous man. What makes this documentary so good is that director Chernick brings out this quality of Perlman. It's there on the screen, where we can all see it. Great artists can be brooding and antisocial. Not Perlman. He plays, he laughs, and he enjoys life.

If you love music, this is a must-see film. If you don't love music, you will still enjoy it because it gives a good insight into the man himself.

We saw Itzhak at the excellent Dryden Theatre in the George Eastman Museum. It was screened at the wonderful Rochester Jewish Film Festival. It will work very well on the small screen. This movie has an excellent IMDb rating of 7.7. I think it's even better than that.