Thirty years ago Andrei Fillipo was the renowned director of the Bolshoi Orchestra when his starry career was abruptly cut short and he was dramatically fired mid concert for hiring Jewish musicians. He has now been reduced to being a janitor at the Bolshoi Theater and when he’s cleaning the Director’s Office one day a Fax comes in from the prominent Chatelet Theater in Paris inviting the Bolshoi to play there. Filipov steals the fax and decides to re-form his old orchestra to perform in their place and so sets about gathering together an odd assortment of rather scruffy musicians from his Gypsy and Jewish friends to pay his beloved Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto once again.
He demands that the Chatelet Management hire the star violinist Anne-Marie Jacquet to be the Soloist but we discover that his reasoning for this choice is not just based on her talent and fame but on a dark and hidden secret that is in fact the whole impetus of the Concert.
Part farce, part melodrama this charming French movie by Romanian director Radu Mihaileanu is a real ragbag like the Orchestra itself. It milks every drop of the dramatic schmaltz music of the Concerto (wonderfully filmed) with some unashamedly tear-jerking moments, but then slips in some unnecessary ridiculous comic scenes that bring you up short. However there are also some wonderful inspired farcical moments that are completely hilarious.
The Russian actor Alexei Guskov gives a remarkable sorrowful performance as Filipov, but the highpoint for me is probably Melanie Laurent as Anne-Marie, and just as with her turn in ‘Inglorious Bastards’ she is so radiant on screen she adds a crucial dimension to the emotional drama, as well as totally convincing us that she really is playing that violin!
Far from perfect, but most enjoyable.
★★★★★★★
