Behind the Strings Documentary: A Review

Hal Rifken’s film Behind the Strings is a documentary about the Shanghai Quartet, telling an up-close and personal journey of the group from its inception to present day success. Hal Rifken explores inter-cultural issues in his work for numerous cable and broadcast networks. Guatemala: Trouble in the Highlands, which is a documentary that explores the poverty-stricken migrant struggle in South America is in the works for the experienced Rifken, and the Behind the Strings is set to premier winter 2020.

This was a five year project for Rifken, and audiences are rewarded as the filmmaker follows the quartet around the world during this span, making stops in almost every continent along the way. From the onset, the music is just riveting. One could almost call this a musical documentary, as pieces from the quartet’s performances are laid over the footage throughout, interrupted intermittently with interviews coming from the group’s own members, and industry professionals familiar with the quartet’s repertoire. The exposition of the film concentrates on familiarizing us with the personal lives of the  members, and moves on to dig deep into the group’s inception. The quartet is made up of: first violinist Weigang Li, violist Honggang Li, and cellist Nicholas Tzavaras. The documentary includes former member Yi-Wen Jiang.

The cultural revolution was a massive campaign that threw China into chaos. Mao Zedong’s revolutionary propagandist government dictated the indoctrination of the masses to political views of the government—no classical music, and only Chinese revolutionary songs were allowed during this era. During a time when so many professors and thinkers of society committed suicide or went missing, the Li parents, musicians themselves, began to teach their boys violin. Upon the Chairman’s death, things start loosening up throughout the 70’s and 80’s. The Li brothers were able to make their way into the West through the Chinese culture ministry’s support to educate domestic talents abroad, and the young members start to flourish and make a name for themselves in the UK and the States.

It’s an interesting showcase of the journey of the musicians who tell the larger tale of music in China in the modern age. From the repression of the Mao-led era where Western music was not allowed, to the loosening up of attitudes, and eventually the encouragement and move towards appreciating Western classical music and the infusion of Chinese folk, it is an interesting crossing of the group and China’s progression at large, one that Rifken skillfully presents in this documentary. We witness how the Shanghai Quartet were really one of the first chamber groups with roots in China who have become an international sensation, having played nearly 3,000 concerts in thirty countries. Throughout the film, we learn how the group came to be through the support of mentors and professors, and how the quartet was finalized with the inclusion of Yi-Wen Jiang, and Nick Tzavaras.

We witness the dedication and practice it takes for the members to keep up a standard of excellence, and it is a joyful experience to be shown how each work to keep their individuality in place when working within the collaborative environment of a quartet. There are background rehearsal scenes which focus on the quartet’s meticulous and exhausting process of going through the smallest of details, depicting an insanity in chasing creative perfection, pushing viewers to only imagine the wonder of what it’s like to listen to them live.

There are recurring themes of family life versus the professional life, and the sacrifices the members’ families make for them to have such a successful career. The film includes interviews from spouses and children of the group’s members which is a personal close-up narrative on their lives in contrast to the primarily focused on professional journey shown throughout the film. Marital history stories are also included which mesh well with the coming together of the quartet, and a line which often makes an appearance in the documentary is how the quartet members are more familiar with each other than their spouses are with them in comparison.

The documentary is a joy to watch for anyone interested in classical music, specifically chamber music to be exact. Those with a familiarity in music on a professional scale will definitely get more out of this documentary, which features the quartet’s inclusion of different soloists, various diverse compositions, and big names such as Arnold Steinhardt, Wu Man, Shmuel Ashkanasi and others speak about the quartet and their flourishing repertoire.