Opening Day: 25 March 2010

Synopsis:

During the Brezhnev era, Andrei Filipov was the greatest conductor in the Soviet Union and he directed the famous Bolshoi Orchestra. But after refusing to abandon his Jewish musicians, including his best friend Sacha, he was fired at the height of his glory. Thirty years later, he is still working at the Bolshoi, but... as a cleaner. One evening, when Andrei has stayed late to the polish the director's desk, he comes across a fax addressed to the Bolshoi management: it is an invitation from the Thtre du Chtelet in Paris for the orchestra to come and perform there. Suddenly, Andrei has a crazy idea: why not bring together his old musician friends, who now get by doing menial work, and take them to Paris, passing them off as the Bolshoi Orchestra?

It is the long-awaited occasion for them to at last get their revenge.

Movie Review:

“Carp diem”- for me, these words sum up this map-cap adventure of a movie. There is not much else to talk about in my introduction, because well, why not let the film speak for itself?

Le Concert is mostly about Andrei Filipov (Aleksei Guskov), once-renowned conductor of the Bolshoi Orchestra during the Brezhnev era, who had his career destroyed because he refused to abandon his Jewish musicians/friends. Now, reduced to a janitor at the Bolshoi, he relives his glory days by sneaking into the auditorium and play-pretends while the current Bolshoi Orchestra performs.

Sounds rather boring, doesn’t it? Wait, it only gets better. Andrei, on a fortunate evening, finds himself polishing the director’s desk as a faxed invitation to perform at the Theatre du Chatelet, Paris comes in. And as you can guess, a crazy-ass idea hits him: why not masquerade as the Bolshoi Orchestra (Andrei reasons, “The real one sucks anyway.”), with him at the helm as the conductor, and his friends forming the rest of the band? And therein, within the first 25 minutes or so, the whole premise of the movie sets itself up- and we follow Andrei along for the ride in the next 90 minutes as he scrambles to gather 55 members within 2 weeks, to prepare the necessary visas, instruments, and concert attires (albeit illegally), to govern a rowdy group of misfits in foreign Paris, to resolve past “skeletons in the closet”, to perform without a hitch- with no experience in 30 years- in front of an enormous, mostly high-profile crowd at the famed Theatre du Chatelet. Woah, that’s a lot to swallow, even for a film character.

What I personally like about Le Concert is that it doesn’t stop at any moment to preach (as we all know, most inspirational movies do)- there are no pretentious scenes whereby the main characters or the people around them suddenly become all-knowing and start engaging in philosophical conversations. As Andrei embarks on his personal journey (both physically and metaphorically), he does it with a mixture of stoic realism and quiet fury. At times where he wavers in his resolve, he admits it, not with a punch in the wall or a hearty cry on knees in the heavy rain, but in a short phone conversation to his wife. He is by no means a selfless or flawless but luckless character- he is driven by both personal passion, and a self-purported vendetta to reclaim his name, and to finish the Tchaikovsky concert that was so abruptly interrupted 30 years ago. A man frozen in time, and yes, he admits, a selfish one. But most importantly, he is a relatable character that you will find yourself rooting for.

The movie is thankfully, riddled with jokes and little melodrama. They come fast and furious; some appropriately slapstick, but most done at the expense of societal stereotypes in good nature: Sacha (Dimitry Nazarov), the fat best friend who provides most of the comic relief as a reliable sidekick bestowed in life with a fiery temper, the Russians, a group of ugly drunkards who are irresponsible and vulgar, and the Jews, who never let any opportunity to profit slide. These jokes make up most of the witty humor that’s found in the movie, and while they worked, they admittedly waned towards the end.

Being a movie about music, the score is, as expected, pretty awesome. I am not a fan of classical music, but the last couple of minutes in the film will definitely leave you awestricken and blown away.

However, the film does have its flaws. While the first arc (before flying to Paris) starts out fast and evenly paced, it slows down considerably in the second arc to accommodate the tying up of the secondary storylines, of which were distracting and mostly, unnecessary. Halfway, we also find out that almost all members of the fake Bolshoi Orchestra only agreed to go to Paris for different personal agendas- and frankly, too much time wasted exploring this- save for good ole Sacha who is perhaps, the best friend anyone can ever have.

Le Concert reminds us to hold on to our ideals even when they have been ravaged by time, because quite frankly, passion is what makes a man. An uplifting and funny movie that is worth watching with friends or family during a laidback afternoon, Le Concert might even move the most jaded to believe that, sometimes the sheer strength of the human resolve to achieve despite the odds... can lead one to one’s desired ending.

And achieve we must, because we only live once.

Movie Rating:

(Carp diem, watch the movie, and you will not live to regret)

Review by Casandra Wong