MOVIE REVIEW : ‘High Fidelity’ Explores Guarneri Quartet

Diversity within unity is probably the central paradox and glory of chamber music. Each part must be heard clearly and distinctively, yet be perfectly integrated into the collective effort.

This is the theme of “High Fidelity--The Adventures of the Guarneri String Quartet,” currently at the Monica Theatre for a two-week run.

Director Allan Miller explores the subject not in music directly. Instead, he tracks the interpersonal relationships of the players, violinists Arnold Steinhardt and John Dalley, violist Michael Tree and cellist David Soyer.

Filmed during the ensemble’s 1987-88 season, “High Fidelity” follows the musicians individually and as a group, in tenacious pursuit of the mysteries of successful collaboration. Almost every moment is focused in some way on the question of how the Guarneri has held together for 26 years.

The answers articulated--respect for each other, passion for the music, thick skins, money, clear separation of private and ensemble lives--are ultimately unconvincing next to those demonstrated. Much has been written about the Guarneri, but here we can witness the group dynamics at play for ourselves.

The result is consistently engaging, although the inherent redundancies of addressing nearly every issue and scene in quadruplicate bog things down in the middle. Dyanna Taylor’s camerawork captures the amazing mixture of candor and reticence unobtrusively, and the film establishes its own almost musical rhythm easily.

Music itself, though plentiful, is heard only in snippets or background. Why the longevity and success of this particular group should matter is assumed rather than demonstrated. Indeed, what the quartet does is not the issue here, as much as how it survives on a human level.

That dimension, however, is endlessly fascinating, and is what makes “High Fidelity” so accessible and important even for audiences that would not normally find themselves at a chamber music concert. The joy of the doing is apparent throughout the film, in both the loving work of the Guarneri and Miller and his team, and translates for us into the joy of the viewing.