Much to commend 'The Concert' despite historical inaccuracies

Director: Radu Milhaileanu

Cast: Aleskei Guskov, Melanie Laurent, Dimitri Nasarov

Thirty years previously, the renowned conductor of the Bolshoi Orchestra, Andrei Filipov (Guskov) was denounced and demoted for hiring Jewish musicians and now a broken drunk he haunts the theatre where he once dominated as a cleaner.

But redemption comes when he intercepts an invitation from a Paris theatre for the orchestra to play there. He sets about on a daring scheme to bring his old colleagues together and pose as the real thing, with violinist Laurent along to play Tchaikovsky’s difficult Concerto.

It’s a mixture of comedy and tragedy, of second chances and of gaining revenge on past wrongs (in actual fact, in the old Soviet Union Jewish musicians were not treated badly).

It’s a music lover’s film with the Concerto taking central stage in the climax, but while it is a film with much to commend there are moments of clearly manipulated emotion – everybody cries!

Star Rating: 3/5