Duet for One

Duet for One is a 1986 British drama film adapted from the play, a two-hander by Tom Kempinski, about a world-famous concert violinist named Stephanie Anderson who is suddenly struck with multiple sclerosis. It is set in London, and directed by Andrei Konchalovsky. The story was, at the time of the premiere of the play, assumed to be based on the life of cellist Jacqueline du Pré, who was diagnosed with MS, and her husband, conductor Daniel Barenboim, but Kempinski has stated that the subject of the play was a cathartic explosion of his own anxieties and depression. Synopsis Stephanie Anderson, a world-famous violinist, becomes unable to play because of multiple sclerosis. A depressed psychiatrist she sees is unable to help with her rage and frustration. Her star pupil, realizing he will learn nothing more, leaves her. Her husband departs with his young secretary, and her accompanist dies. Her fierce desire to be alone in her pain alienates everybody except her faithful maid. She gives all her musical effects to a totter (an itinerant scrap merchant), who she asks into her bed as well. Watching a videotape of a concert triumph, she takes an overdose but the maid breaks in to try and save her. In an epilogue, which may be a dream, the psychiatrist has become a friend while her ex-husband and former pupil come back to see her, as does the ghost of her accompanist. Primary cast Julie Andrews: Stephanie Anderson Alan Bates: David Cornwallis Max von Sydow: Dr. Louis Feldman Rupert Everett: Constantine Kassanis Margaret Courtenay: Sonia Randvich Cathryn Harrison: Penny Smallwood Sigfrit Steiner: Leonid Lefimov Macha Méril: Anya Liam Neeson: Totter Siobhan Redmond: Totter's wife Paula Figgett: Totter's Daughter Reception The film gained positive reviews.