Mozart in the Jungle (TV Series) Not Yet Titled (2016) User Reviews

One of the best TV episodes of any series ever!

[Felonious-Punk · 9/10 · 19 December 2016]

Cinematography, editing, meaning, acting. It's all top-notch.

It's actually part prison-concert documentary and part drama. It brought tears to my eyes for how beautiful the music is and how nicely it all came together.

Much needed in a series that has become very silly, especially after the uncomfortable/forced kiss in the last episode.

This episode deserves a lot of praise for the attention it brings to the prison population and the daring of it all. Bravo!

The rest of this review is just filler to get to the needed number of lines required by IMDb. Pretty silly policy and I hope this changes soon.

A Unique Effort in a Unique Place

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 2 March 2017]

For their first episode following the strike settlement, Rodrigo arranges for the orchestra to play at Riker's Island before a group of inmates. It is presented in documentary style with extensive camera work and close-ups. Rodrigo presents the pieces to the inmates in an educational way and they are performed beautifully on a platform in the prison yard. First of all, the reactions of the men watching are priceless. They seemed to really marvel at what they saw. It was the experience of a lifetime for some of them. When they were on the outside they would never have had this opportunity, partly because of their cultural being and partly because of the expense of watching a major orchestra. Excellent choice.

Wow! Beautiful!

[misscorinna · 10/10 · 23 January 2017]

Spoiler alert. Please don't read if you haven't seen.

This episode was stunning. A total shock. It is utterly different than all the other episodes in every way. Bravo!!

In this episode, the orchestra actually, really goes and performs for real inmates at Rikers prison. The day after the performance, they interview the inmates. In it, we see the real-time authentic emotional experience of prisoners hearing orchestral music for the first time in their lives. Music often restricted to the upper class. They experience being treated with dignity and the transcendence of music.

At first, you think the music selection will be too sophisticated for them to "understand", but in fact, we see that perhaps they understand more than most. We also see the actors and musicians, in turn, moved by what is unfolding before them. This is a true piece of performance art caught on film for us to enjoy.

Bravo. Very touching.

Wow!!!

[liz-53302 · 10/10 · 18 July 2018]

I've never written a review before here. However, this is the a stunning episode. Read the trivia part and see for yourself... From the heart and a testament of the power of music. 10 out of 10..... Enjoy!

Stunning

[tracyleaogden · 10/10 · 12 March 2018]

Was settled into a comfortable binge watch and was thoroughly enjoying the fun story lines, quirky characters, the music and the actors in this series. Then this episode crept up on me and hit me like a ton of bricks. The one camera documentary style, the interviews of the inmates and the cuts to the facial expressions of the venerable "maestro" were just beautiful. A next level artistic achievement in a weekly tv series.

amazing stuff

[rgruoner · 10/10 · 23 January 2017]

despite the relative unrealistic comedy-style of the show this episode felt really real to me.

i am still not quite sure how they pulled it off. the editing felt very nice too.

quite fantastic and a good idea to bring classical music into a real and worthy context.

i would hope the real conductors would carry these ideas into the real world and would offer more interesting locations, like back-yards, train stations and rooftops...

10 out of 10 in my opinion.

Genial! Completely different from last episodes. Felt real.

[davidjm_fcp · 10/10 · 1 February 2017]

(small spoiler) What a great episode! The show was becoming a bit silly as someone already said. But this episode breaks with almost everything done before! It's not a new concept, but personally (don't have such big knowledge), never seen that applied to a TV show. Creating a documentary inside the show suddenly makes it feel so real, makes us feel the music, makes us feel the characters feelings. This fusion with a society that 99% of the time doesn't have access to classical music, is just perfect. Everything makes sense. As someone said, hope that this kind of projects become more frequent in real life. In Portugal it already happened, sometimes. I went to a concert in a city called Leiria, where not only the orchestra performed to the inmates, but some of the inmates was part of the project, in an alternative performance of "Don Giovanni". Just google or search in YouTube for "Música na prisão Leiria Don Giovanni 2015".

Breathtaking

[charysschuler · 10/10 · 29 December 2019]

As other reviewers here have commented, I found this episode quite literally stunning. As a professional orchestral musician myself, it took my breath away to see this experience captured. (And captured on film, my other passion!) Bringing live classical music to people who have never experienced it before is one of my favorite parts of being a performer. I can personally attest to the fact that what the men who were interviewed (stroke of genius not to use actors!) said is true of must if not all people who come to concerts as first-time listeners. The experience truly transcends space, time, and conditions of daily life. Thank you so much to all involved for making this experience visible.

An interesting episode

[aliases-53334 · 6/10 · 20 December 2019]

I do love the idea and execution for the documentary, however my one hate for this was the composer! Jolie molie was the music bad or what?? I understand some people may like it but I thought it was damn ugly and if I wrote it after waking angry in the morning and pissed at the neighbours I would surely throw it away. And playing this to inmates? I seriously expected something calm, divine, beautiful. Fail!

When I close my eyes, I am free.

[iamebonysunshine · 10/10 · 8 April 2023]

The series, Mozart in the Jungle, is a TRUE jewel! Funny, dramatic, and traumatic, the show reflects facets of our human nature - the "pick me" insecurities to the "Welcome to Earth, M***Fers" - we cringe at when we display them. Yet thanks to the Maestros, "Hai Lai", Cynthia, Betty, and an amazing ensemble, I can appreciate the nuances of my own complex Humanity. This particular episode resonated on many levels from the release of conflicts, uncomfortable compromises, and bridging the gap between the new and the old. Said best by a prisoner wrapped in the beauty of the orchestra, "when I close my eyes, I'm not even here. Physically, yes, but emotionally and spiritually, I am free.". 😭😭😭😭

This is what we're left with

[appnzllr-1 · 3/10 · 30 October 2017]

First, why would anyone go to Riker's or any prison and play those pieces? What an orchestra should play is something more traditional than experimental. Why would the inmates be happy with that performance? The musicians could be the best in the world, but the pieces did not bring any beauty to them. The orchestra should have brought beauty into the prison - not something that has no form or beauty.

Second, is this what music has come to? Have all the beautiful classical music been written? Is it true that no one can write anything beautiful, because they would end up copying something written in the last 300 years? Is everything new experimental, and therefore ugly? No wonder orchestras play Mozart, Beethoven, Rachmaninov, and others who composed things worth listening to. Rock bands and other composers are sued (frequently enough) for copying some little part of a song that was recorded decades ago. Are today's classical composers afraid to be charged with "lifting" a portion of a work written decades or centuries ago? So they feel cornered into writing something "experimental" and therefore nonsensical?