Gauche the Cellist

Six years in the making, Takahata’s first independent feature is a paean to the rewards of hard work and inspiration. In the early twentieth century, a young cellist, Gauche, lives in a pastoral, ink-painted countryside, tending his garden and performing with the community orchestra, accompanying silent movie screenings and the like. Stressed about an upcoming performance of Beethoven’s Sixth (“Pastoral”) Symphony and burning the midnight oil rehearsing, Gauche receives a succession of pesky, haranguing, anthropomorphic animal visitors. The contentious visitations disrupt his process but perhaps mold him and his craft in unexpected ways.