''The Song of Names'' is a 2019 drama film directed by

François Girard François Girard (born January 12, 1963) is a French Canadian director and screenwriter from Montreal. Born in Saint-Félicien, Quebec, Girard's career began on the Montreal art video circuit. In 1990, he produced his first feature film, ''Car ...

."Clive Owen WWII film ‘The Song of Names’ getting TIFF Gala Presentation"
'' The Loop'', July 23, 2019. An adaptation of the novel of the same name by

Norman Lebrecht Norman Lebrecht (born 11 July 1948) is a British music journalist and author who specializes in classical music. He is best known as the owner of the classical music blog, ''Slipped Disc'', where he frequently publishes articles. Unlike other ...

, it stars

Tim Roth Timothy Simon Roth (born 14 May 1961) is an English actor and producer. He began acting on films and television series in the 1980s. He was among a group of prominent British actors of the era, the "Brit Pack (actors), Brit Pack". He made hi ...

and

Clive Owen Clive Owen (born 3 October 1964) is an English actor. He first gained recognition in the United Kingdom for playing the lead role in the ITV series '' Chancer'' from 1990 to 1991. He received critical acclaim for his work in the film '' Close ...

as childhood friends from

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

whose lives have been changed by

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The film was nominated for nine

Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media (web series) p ...

s, winning five.

Plot

Dovidl Rapoport, a 9-year-old from Poland who lost his parents and siblings in

, is also a prodigy at the violin. The Simmonds family adopt him and he is taken to England. Their son Martin starts bonding with his new adoptive brother as he likes Dovidl (anglicized to David) playing the violin. David continues practising the violin while still remembering his biological family. Years pass, and David and Martin are now 21 years old. There is just one day left for a concert featuring David, when he mysteriously disappears with his violin. It is revealed that David had fallen asleep on a bus and visits a Polish Jewish community in Stoke Newington, asking them about whether his family is still alive. He is then taken to a synagogue, where a list of people with the surname Rapoport who died during the WW2 is announced (in the form of a song, to make it easier to remember). After finding out that none of his family has survived, David breaks down. Years later, in about 1986, Martin is now 56 years old and is married. He learns about a violinist, who he notices plays in the same pattern as his brother David, who had disappeared about 35 years ago. Martin then sets off to Poland to find his brother. After meeting David's former love, who says that David left on a plane but told her where he was going, Martin arrives in New York, where he finds David, married with children. Martin is furious with David and tries to persuade him to perform at a concert. David at first refuses, but then accepts on two conditions (not revealed in the scene). Two months later, Martin and his wife attend the concert, where David first plays with an orchestra, and then has a solo performance, in which he plays the 'Song of Names', remembering his family. Martin then receives a letter from David stating the former must think of the latter as dead and they must never meet again. The film ends with Martin reading the

Kaddish Kaddish or Qaddish or Qadish ( arc, קדיש "holy") is a hymn praising God that is recited during Jewish prayer services. The central theme of the Kaddish is the magnification and sanctification of God's name. In the liturgy, different version ...

, having reluctantly accepted that David is now dead to him.

Cast

as Martin Simmonds **

Gerran Howell Gerran Lyn Howell (born 25 February 1991) is a Welsh actor, director and writer of short films, best known for playing "Vladimir Dracula" in ''Young Dracula'', a CBBC television series that initially aired in 2006. Early life Howell was born in ...

as Martin Simmonds aged 17–23 *** Misha Handley as Martin Simmonds aged 9–13 *

as Dovidl Rapoport **

Jonah Hauer-King Jonah Andre Hauer-King (born 30 May 1995) is an English actor. He has starred in the films '' The Last Photograph'' (2017) and ''A Dog's Way Home'' (2019), and appeared in the television miniseries ''Howards End'' (2017), ''Little Women'' (2017 ...

as Dovidl Rapoport aged 17–21 *** Luke Doyle as Dovidl Rapoport aged 9–13 *

Stanley Townsend Stanley Townsend (born August 1961) is an Irish actor. Personal life Townsend was born and brought up in Dublin. After attending Wesley College, Dublin, he studied mathematics and civil engineering at Trinity College. While there he joined the ...

as Gilbert Simmonds *

Catherine McCormack Catherine Jane McCormack (born 3 April 1972) is an English actress of stage and screen. Her film appearances include ''Braveheart'' (1995), ''The Land Girls'' (1998), ''Dangerous Beauty'' (1998), ''Dancing at Lughnasa'' (1998), ''Spy Game'' (20 ...

as Helen Simmonds *

Saul Rubinek Saul Hersh Rubinek (born July 2, 1948) is a German-born Canadian actor, director, producer, and playwright. He is widely known for his television roles, notably Artie Nielsen on '' Warehouse 13,'' Donny Douglas on ''Frasier'', Lon Cohen on ''A N ...

as Mr. Feinman *

Eddie Izzard Edward John Izzard (; born 7 February 1962) is a British stand-up comedian, actor and activist. Her comedic style takes the form of what appears to the audience as rambling whimsical monologues and self-referential pantomime. Izzard's stand- ...

as BBC Radio Announcer

Release

The film premiered at the

2019 Toronto International Film Festival The 44th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 5 to 15 September 2019. The opening gala was the documentary film '' Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band'', directed by Daniel Roher, and the festival closed with a ...

Reception

''The Song of Names'' received mixed to negative reviews. , of the reviews compiled on review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

are positive, with an average rating of . The website's critics consensus states, "''The Song of Names'' is made from intriguing ingredients, but they never quite coalesce into a drama that satisfies the way it should."

Accolades

At the

8th Canadian Screen Awards The 8th annual Canadian Screen Awards were originally scheduled to be held on March 29, 2020, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2019.Antigone In Greek mythology, Antigone ( ; Ancient Greek: Ἀντιγόνη) is the daughter of Oedipus and either his mother Jocasta or, in another variation of the myth, Euryganeia. She is a sister of Polynices, Eteocles, and Ismene.Roman, L., & Roma ...

'' for most wins, with five.

References

External links

* *
The Song of Names
' at Library and Archives of Canada {{DEFAULTSORT:Song of Names, The 2019 films 2019 drama films Canadian drama films British drama films German drama films Hungarian drama films English-language Canadian films English-language German films English-language Hungarian films Films directed by François Girard Films with screenplays by Jeffrey Caine Sony Pictures Classics films Films scored by Howard Shore 2010s English-language films 2010s Canadian films 2010s British films 2010s German films