He has Van Gogh's ear for music.
Interpretation
This quote humorously suggests that someone who is not musically talented is nonetheless appreciated for their passion.
Billy Wilder's quote, 'He has Van Gogh's ear for music,' captures the irony of possessing a strong enthusiasm for music despite lacking the necessary talent or skill. By comparing the individual to Vincent Van Gogh, who is admired for his artistic legacy despite having struggled with mental health and societal acceptance, Wilder suggests that passion can be more impactful than proficiency. This phrase serves as a light-hearted commentary on how some individuals may not have the ability to excel in certain areas but still embrace their interests with fervor.
In practice
In a speech at a creative arts festival, someone might use this quote to convey that appreciating art or music is more about passion than skill.
Film’s thought of as a director’s medium because the director creates the end product that appears on the screen. It’s that stupid auteur theory again, that the director is the author of the film. But what does the director shoot-the telephone book? Writers became much more important when sound came in, but they’ve had to put up a valiant fight to get the credit they deserve.
What critics call dirty in our pictures, they call lusty in foreign films.
I have ten commandments. The first nine are, thou shalt not bore. The tenth is, thou shalt have right of final cut.
Happiness is working with Jack Lemmon.
Hindsight is always twenty-twenty.
I'd worship the ground you walked on if only you walked in a better neighborhood.
Playing and listening to music gives you a sense of fulfilment because you have to put everything in you at its disposal.
I'll give up this sort of touring madness certainly, but music-everything is based on music. No, I'll never stop my music.
My concern has always been to paint nudes as if they were some splendid fruit.
Write your own songs. It helps you to mean what you're singing, which will then make it mean something to listeners.
It is to be remembered that all art is magical in origin - music, sculpture, writing, painting - and by magical I mean intended to produce very definite results. Paintings were originally formulae to make what is painted happen. Art is not an end in itself, any more than Einstein's matter-into-energy formulae is an end in itself. Like all formulae, art was originally FUNCTIONAL, intended to make things happen, the way an atom bomb happens from Einstein's formulae.
Music is everybody's possession.
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