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Film: The Concert
Release date: 8th November 2010
Certificate: 15
Running time: 122 mins
Director: Radu Mihaileanu
Starring: Aleksei Guskov, Dimitri Nazarov, Melanie Laurent, François Berleand, Miou-Miou
Genre: Drama/Comedy
Studio: Optimum
Format: DVD
Country: France
Four years after the internationally acclaimed Live And Become, Radu Mihaileanu attempts to hit a lighter note with comedy-drama The Concert, staring French actress Mélanie Laurent. A story of redemption, can Mihaileanu’s colourful cast walk the line between the melancholic and the jocular?
The Concert, above all else, is a story of the underdog. Aleksei Guskov stars as Alexei Filipov, who works as a cleaner at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. But he used to be something much more. His turmoil dates back thirty years, when, as the conductor of the legendary Bolshoi, he refused to omit Jewish musicians from his world-famous orchestra. He never conducted again.
In his disgrace, and, at times, spiralling alcoholism, Alexei and wife Irina dream of a house in the country, working with obsessive devotion to attain these far-fetched desires.
The film picks up on the day Alexei discovers a fax on his boss’ computer inviting the Bolshoi to play a concerto in Paris. Destroying any evidence of the fax, Alexei embarks on an ambitious plan to reunite his orchestra, and conduct the concerto himself.
Joined by charismatic sidekick Sacha (Dimitri Nazarov), Alexei finds many of his former musicians are now deadbeat drunks, but nonetheless endeavours to deliver a one-off ground-breaking performance which will finally allow him to let go of his bitter-sweet past…
The film endeavours, at first, to introduce its audience to some familiar stereotypes within the comedy genre. With some sassy screenplay, and intricate script work that swiftly demonstrates the archetypal character traits, we meet Alexei, the regretful but likeable failed conductor, and Irina – devoted, and passionate, someone Alexei can rely on to push him into the background and conduct his rants for him.
In next to no time Sacha, the yang to Alexei’s ying, presents himself as the discerning best friend who ridicules Alexei’s plans but goes along for the ride. Plump, hearty, never far from losing his temper, Sacha, on more than one occasion, steals the show, largely due to the talents of actor Dimitry Nazarov.
It is also not long before we meet Anne-Marie Jacquet (played earnestly by Mélanie Laurent, who recently shot to fame with her role in Inglourious Basterds), a young prodigy with supreme talents on the violin, who brings a fresh face to the marketing behind the concerto. At the helm of the marketing campaign lies Olivier Morne Duplessis, manager of the Théâtre du Châtelet – typically arrogant and self-assured in order to hide the fact the theatre may be going under.
Despite some promising moments of humour, particularly when the film looks for subtler laughs, The Concert is often over-reliant on more chaotic moments of comedy, a number of which are so unfathomable that it prevents the intended reaction. A shootout at a wedding early on in the film borders on the ridiculous, and is only saved by the conversation between events promoter Ivan and world-class cellist Pyotr Tretiakin, as they agree a deal whilst avoiding gunfire.
In terms of cinematography and construction of mise-en-scène, Mihaileanu, with assistance from cinematographer Laurent Dailland, saves the best until last. Although consistent throughout, it is Alexei’s concerto that brings a third dimension to Mihaileanu’s work. In the moments leading up to the main event, with more pace and fluidity than earlier scenes, the audience witnesses the impending chaos backstage and the overriding nerves on stage, creating an air of anticipation as well as dread for what will happen next.
Another area that the film does excel is in its soundtrack. Radu Mihaileanu utilises the works of Mozart, Tchaikovsky and others to convey emotion from his characters and audience alike. Music plays a central role in this film, and Mihaileanu manages to manipulate the soundtrack, building toward crescendos for important scenes, and he even manages to generate slapstick humour without the music’s epic nature ever feeling misplaced. During the concerto itself, a moving piece of music compounds the final revelation, but perhaps fails to conceal the sad truth that the final twist is neither believable nor anything to write home about.
Although everything is left resolved within the film, The Concerto is perhaps guilty of a failure to commit to comedy or drama. What results is a slightly confused atmosphere throughout, where the audience is unsure whether to laugh or cry. What strikes the most, despite characters played with warmth and gusto, is that the funny moments are not scripted to perfection and thus suffer from bad timing, and the dramatic moments fail to evoke the desired emotion. MC
Film: The Concert
Release date: 16th July 2010
Certificate: 15
Running time: 122 mins
Director: Radu Mihaileanu
Starring: Aleksei Guskov, Dimitri Nazarov, Melanie Laurent, François Berleand, Miou-Miou
Genre: Drama/Comedy
Studio: Optimum
Format: Cinema
Country: France/Italy/Romania/Belgium/Russia
Having both enjoyed award success and critical acclaim, the teaming of French director Radu Mihaileanu with lead actress Melanie Laurent was promising enough, before adding the wondrous music of Tchaikovsky into the mix.
Under the anti-Semitic Brezhnev regime, Andrei Filipov (Alexei Guskov) lost his prestigious position as conductor of the Bolshoi Orchestra as a punishment for refusing to expel Jewish musicians from the group.
Thirty years on, working as a cleaner at the theatre, he still dreams of taking up the baton once more, and when he finds out that the Bolshoi have been invited to play a concert in Paris, he keeps the news to himself and hatches a plan to take his own orchestra instead.
To this end, he has to reconnect with all the musicians he knew back in the day, getting them to dust off their old instruments and polish up their playing skills. He also has to enlist the help of his old adversary, Ivan Gavrilov (Valeri Barinov), the Communist party activist responsible for Filipov’s humiliating fall from grace, who agrees to go along with the scheme, as he has his own agenda.
Against all odds, the orchestra manages to get to Paris, where the talented violinist Anne-Marie Jacquet (Melanie Laurent) is persuaded to play Tchaikovsky and help heal the wounds of the past...
Mustering a motley crew of Russian musicians with rusty skills to perform at a top venue in Paris is a premise with plenty of comic potential – even if the idea that they can make beautiful music together at the drop of a hat is a bit far-fetched. Still, if you can manage to suspend disbelief and go with the flow, it’s easy enough to be swept away by the enthusiasm and energy of this unlikely ensemble.
Cultural differences between the unruly mob of Slavs and their more sophisticated French hosts play a large part in the humour, and director Radu Mihaileanu highlights the contrast by using fixed camera shots to illustrate Parisian elegance, while hand-held cameras follow the frenetic antics of the Russians.
The cast of characters include an elderly trombonist, who insists that his asthma actually improves his playing, and a gipsy violinist who is particularly well-accomplished on the fiddle, with a sideline in arranging fake passports for orchestra members who need them in a hurry. The character-generated humour works up to a point, occasionally treading a fine line between comic exaggeration and racial stereotyping. Scenes where the Russians speak in faltering French present a particular challenge, as the comic touch runs the risk of becoming lost in translation.
Alexei Guskov, a seasoned veteran of the East European movie scene, with forty films under his belt, gives an earnest and likeable performance as conductor Andrei Filipov, though he comes across as more of a straight man than a natural comedian. His admiration of the violinist Jacquet is such that he keeps all her CDs and press clippings in a folder. A trail of clues seems to suggest a father-daughter relationship, but this is something of a red herring, as the past connection between the pair is not quite so obvious.
Melanie Laurent, best known to an international audience for her role as Shosanna Dreyfuss in Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds, has a luminous screen presence as the virtuoso violinist who is haunted by the music of Tchaikovsky - for reasons she cannot quite fathom. Laurent, who is left-handed, learnt to play the violin for the part, a daunting task as the instrument cannot be converted and must be played be right-handed, so she ended up with tendonitis. Bravo: her playing looks authentic enough and no-one can say she isn’t prepared to suffer for her art.
While the challenge of playing a cool and self-controlled character appears to place constraints on her emotional range at times, she is finally able to give her feelings full expression in the climactic scene, when Jacquet faces her fears to perform Tchaikovsky’s violin concerto for the first time.
The score combines original music by Armand Amar with the sublime harmonies of Tchaikovsky, a fine blend in keeping with the musical theme. Mihaileanu neatly ties up loose ends in the highly-charged final scene, interspersing highlights of the concert with flashbacks telling the fate of the Jewish musicians from three decades earlier, while flash forwards show the orchestra on a world tour following their success in Paris.
The message that reverberates through to the final chord is that people’s lives can be transformed, at least temporarily, through the shared experience of music, which crosses barriers of language and culture to achieve harmony and perfection. The fine performances from the players in this concert may merit a round of applause, but the transcendental music of Tchaikovsky is the star. AL
