In this scene from Mr. Holland’s Opus, high school music instructor, Glenn Holland (actor, Richard Dreyfuss) helps a frustrated student discover the joy and passion of doing something for fun rather than obligation, creating the necessary peace and imagery by instructing her to “close her eyes… and ‘play the sunset,’ ” words with special meaning to the student (see clip below for complete context).
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This scene is symbolic not only for its ability to demonstrate true teaching talent, but also provides viewers a chance to close their eyes and picture “sunsets” of their own to play out within their lives.

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The film is filled with many “teaching moments” of how any one person, individual, or in this case, teacher can influence the personal and cultural growth of entire communities.
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