Der Dirigent

At the first sight, the presence of Sir John Gielgud in cast and the name of Andrzej Wajda are enough for be interested by this film.

But the performances of Krystyna Janda and Andrzej Seweryn, not ignoring the discreet but profound useful in economy of film work of Jan Ciecerski are an obvious good point . Like the remind of Kieslowski s Dekalog episodes.

A venerable , well known conductor, Polish origin, American career, returns to his motherland. A young violonist and her husband, director of provincial Polish ensamble are , in a form, the host of old man. His return has different causes and the final offers some clues about this. But the basic virtues are two- the music and the wise exploration of vocation, vulnerabilities, reconquest of past time, refuge from media pressure and manager, a short romance and the competition pressure for young director who seems his career under huge risk , like the personal life.

A film offering beautiful dose of melancholia and few sketches of answers about matters things.

On a superficial level, the movie deals with the perennial battle of new versus old, both in love life as well as professional life. But deep down, the movie is an attempt to differentiate between career & vocation. Everyone's born with some talent. It's what we do with that talent that makes all the difference. I found myself pondering on these extremely important issues upon watching the film. It takes an artistic genius like Andrzej Wajda to understand the world of another artist, a musician in this case. That said, some people may actually find the movie a bit dull and slow. But that's exactly the point, it's not everyone's cup of tea! Needless to say that the music is excellent. A great movie for all music lovers & by extension for all the artists out there! Highly recommended!