Le Concert is a French comedy film where my favorite composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's music plays a major role. It is about a world-renowned Bolshoi Orchestra conductor named Andrey Simonovich Filipov whose musical career ended because he employed Jewish musicians. This was during Leonid Brezhnev's rule when political dissidents were persecuted and when anti-semitic acts were tolerated.
Now working as a janitor in the theater where he once was conductor, Filipov has become a drunkard much to the dismay of his wife. An opportunity opens for him when one day he saw a printed invitation from the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. He persuades his former orchestra musicians to join him together with ex-KGB agent Ivan Gavrilov as manager. They demanded a lot from Théâtre du Châtelet and one of these is that the solo violinist should be Anne-Marie Jacquet. Anne-Marie almost didn't agree to play for the rowdy group who couldn't even allot time for practice because each was busy doing his or her own business while in Paris, but she was persuaded by Sasha who told her that the key to knowing the truth about her parents is in performing with them.
On the night of the performance, the musicians are told to play for Leia, a former violinist who spoke against Brezhnev following the dismissal of Filipov as orchestra conductor. Leia was Anne-Marie's mother who was sent to and died in the Siberian labor camp together with her husband as punishment under the repressive regime. The scene was a comic one, as two members came in late, making the audience chuckle. The beginning of the performance betrayed the fact that the musicians didn't have enough practice, in fact they didn't even have one decent practice for the performance! It wasn't until Anne-Marie played her solo part so beautifully that everyone else levelled up almost instantly and played beautifully until the end, where they are met with a standing ovation, pretty much reminiscent of Nodame Cantabile movie 1.
While the music in this film is without a doubt excellent, I have a few problems in the storyline. Filipov is well known in the world of classical music and yet he didn't get out of his country to join other orchestra and establish himself once again as a Tchaikovsky genius. Instead he works as a lowly janitor! I also don't understand why they should lie to Anne-Marie about her parentage when her parents died a tragic but noble death.
Watch the full movie.
Note: The film is dubbed in Spanish and has no English subtitles.
Now working as a janitor in the theater where he once was conductor, Filipov has become a drunkard much to the dismay of his wife. An opportunity opens for him when one day he saw a printed invitation from the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. He persuades his former orchestra musicians to join him together with ex-KGB agent Ivan Gavrilov as manager. They demanded a lot from Théâtre du Châtelet and one of these is that the solo violinist should be Anne-Marie Jacquet. Anne-Marie almost didn't agree to play for the rowdy group who couldn't even allot time for practice because each was busy doing his or her own business while in Paris, but she was persuaded by Sasha who told her that the key to knowing the truth about her parents is in performing with them.
On the night of the performance, the musicians are told to play for Leia, a former violinist who spoke against Brezhnev following the dismissal of Filipov as orchestra conductor. Leia was Anne-Marie's mother who was sent to and died in the Siberian labor camp together with her husband as punishment under the repressive regime. The scene was a comic one, as two members came in late, making the audience chuckle. The beginning of the performance betrayed the fact that the musicians didn't have enough practice, in fact they didn't even have one decent practice for the performance! It wasn't until Anne-Marie played her solo part so beautifully that everyone else levelled up almost instantly and played beautifully until the end, where they are met with a standing ovation, pretty much reminiscent of Nodame Cantabile movie 1.
While the music in this film is without a doubt excellent, I have a few problems in the storyline. Filipov is well known in the world of classical music and yet he didn't get out of his country to join other orchestra and establish himself once again as a Tchaikovsky genius. Instead he works as a lowly janitor! I also don't understand why they should lie to Anne-Marie about her parentage when her parents died a tragic but noble death.
Watch the full movie.
Note: The film is dubbed in Spanish and has no English subtitles.
