A person can reach incredible heights of grace in art and have no relationship to that in their daily life. But what Seymour talks about is something I’ve personally found very inspiring—the idea that they could play off each other, and that you can use the things you learn not only in life in your art, but the things you learn in your art in your life. That’s something I’ve never heard people talk about. There’s a beautiful moment where one of Seymour’s students, that young man who’s playing that Rachmaninoff piece, talks about trying to listen to his friends with the same patience, understanding, and alertness he uses when he listens to himself playing the piano. You can hear so much in his playing; why couldn’t he hear the same thing in his friend’s voice? And of course he can. And all of us know we can. It’s just, are we listening? I found all that really exciting.
There's a lot that's admirable in this snippet and the whole interview: the idea that being human is a lifelong process where humility is always in order and grace is the best way to approach others, a recognition of the ways art can facilitate both, admiration of the way other people can succeed in their work, candidness in discussing his own metier. The patter of language that is warm and friendly, neither shying away from intelligence or observation nor making them central. No wonder he makes--and writes--good movies lately.
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