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Madame Sousatzka (1988)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 6.2/10
Reviews Counted: 16
Fresh: 12 | Rotten: 4

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Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 4
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 0

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Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 289

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Movie Info

Shirley MacLaine is Madame Sousatzka, an aging piano instructor of Russian extraction. Entrenched in a dilapidated London rooming house, the Madame gives lessons only to the most gifted. She does not stop at mere instruction; Sousatzka insists that her pupils conduct their lives in the same genteel, cultured manner in which she was raised. Her prize student at the moment is an East Indian teenage boy (Navin Chowdhry), who forms a strong and loving bond with the old woman. Director John

PG-13, 2 hr. 2 min.

Musical & Performing Arts, Drama

Directed By: John Schlesinger

Written By: Peter Morgan, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala

In Theaters: Oct 14, 1988 Wide

Cast

Shirley MacLaine
Mme. Irina Sousatzka
Navin Chowdhry
Manek Sen
Peggy Ashcroft
Lady Emily
Twiggy
Jenny
Shabana Azmi
Sushila Sen
Leigh Lawson
Ronnie Blum
Geoffrey Bayldon
Mr. Cordle
Lee Montague
Vincent Pick
Robert Rietty
Leo Milev
Jeremy Sinden
Woodford
Roger Hammond
Lefrance
Christopher Adey
Conductor
Barry Douglas
Pianist at Portman Hall
Jean Anderson
Lady with Removal Men
Charu Bala Chokshi
1st Punjabi Lady
Roland Curram
Menswear Salesman
Peter-Hugo Daly
Roadie
Vernon Dobtcheff
Music Critic
David F. Doyle
Street Youth
Elizabeth Hayes
Piano Student
Sam Howard
Edward
Katherine Schlesinger
Piano Student
Sam Smart
Street Youth
Andrew St. Clair
Festival Mime Artist
Humphrey Burton
Festival Announcer
Carol Gillies
Sousatzka's Mother
Susan Porrett
Receptionist
Stephen Webber
School Teacher
Mohammed Ashiq
Sunil
Cheryl Miller
Black Schoolgirl
Greg Ellis

Critic Reviews for Madame Sousatzka

All Critics (20) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (12) | Rotten (4)

It's as affectionate, big-hearted and creaky as any film that ever graced Radio City Music Hall, with leisureliness and dime-store philosophizing to match.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times

| Comment

Janet Maslin

New York Times

Top Critic

An intimate and amusing adaptation of Bernice Rubens' novel.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Washington Post

| Comment

Rita Kempley

Washington Post

Top Critic

As charming and fanciful as it is impossible to pigeonhole.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Washington Post

| Comment

Desson Thomson

Washington Post

Top Critic

An extraordinary movie that loves music and loves the people it is about, and has the patience to do justice to both.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times

| Comment

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Top Critic

One of MacLaine's strongest, most colorful roles

December 19, 2002 Comment

James Sanford

Kalamazoo Gazette

Enjoyable, well-acted drama.

November 5, 2002 Comment

Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

[MacLaine's] funny, clever and wondrous to behold, and she carries Madame Sousatzka to heights that might not readily seem warranted by the script, which is composed of elements that might seem overly familiar.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City

| Comment

Chris Hicks

Deseret News, Salt Lake City

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Madame Sousatzka

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If you ever had a great piano teacher, you will see heragain in this movie. Anne Ellzey was such a teacher in Alabama.

February 18, 2011

Austin Lowrey

Well made but just not my cup of herbal tea

September 25, 2010

FilmGrinder Stone

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