El Gran Concierto

The Concert is a French/ Italian/Romanian/Belgian production shot in Moscow and Paris. The publicity blurb says that the musical finale is worth the ticket price alone, but I would say even reading the list of exotic names floating over the opening credits is worth a good percentage of the price.

We travel back 30 years to when Andrei, talented young conductor of the Bolshoi Orchestra, was humiliated and sacked by Breshnev for refusing to get rid of his Jewish musicians. Fast forward to the present, and we find him still working at the Bolshoi - but as a cleaner. One lucky day he finds himself alone with the office fax machine. What follows is an audacious plot to get his old sidekicks to Paris, using borrowed instruments, hired suits and fake passports, posing as the real Bolshoi for a concert at the Theatre du Chatelet. If you can imagine a story as full of colour and drama as the TV rock 'n' roll serial epic Tutti Frutti, jammed into just one cinema experience, this could be it. It's rare to see so many set pieces in one film.

I laughed out loud once or twice - and if you know what a grumpy old man I am you would realise what that means. I was also moved to tears, but I'm not telling you why. That would spoil it all - just saying that under its layer of manic fast-cut comedy the story carries a deep, dark and passionate secret which gradually reveals itself as the comedy peels off. The music is, I have to add, beautiful - whether it's Roma dance jigs in the street or Tchaikovsky in the concert hall. Bring a hanky!

This movie goes a long way to heal my nostalgia for the good films of old. A lot of the "modern" eastern European movies try very hard to be so soul searching, so psycho-dramatic, as if they are on a mission to turn and twist their bewildered audience in the hope of some intellectual and metaphysical gratification (or maybe just the hope of a Palme D'Or). Radu Mihaileanu is the master of story telling, touching souls in the best way possible, really. Yes you can pick faults, like with most movies, but if you really pay attention and let you and your feelings move with the flow of the movie, you will be in for a great soul experience. The inaccuracies, the factual errors won't matter anymore. What it does matter is that the author is pretty much exact in retrieving the atmosphere of an era which some of us actually experienced.

The movie gives you an accurate feel for what it feels to struggle to survive and find your way in post-communist Eastern Europe. The tragedy of the past is still present and yet the human nature freed up from restrictions turns in completely unexpected directions. The only way to escape the day-time TV feel is to bring in plenty of sense of humor.

Radu Mihaileanu creates a master piece. I can vouch that it captures the crazy spirit of the last 20 years and the need to make sense of it all. The resolution of the movie is childish and so there were the hopes and dreams of us all in 1989.

The movie is a modern fairy tale told with harsh truths and love and compassion.

If you love music this will quickly become a favorite for you.

This movie is all about music. An orchestra conductor is given a second chance 30 years later and he definitely grabs it.

Life flows through this movie. You can detect how music mixes with life and how music is a part and at the same time is not a part of life.

Music lifts you beyond life.

I also liked the comedy parts. Life is tragedy and comedy and music encompasses it all.

Be advised that the director likes to play and the mixture between fantasy and real life is present throughout the whole movie.

Also, please note the gypsy who arranges the passport issue. In real life he is a member of the Romanian music band Taraf des Haidouks (http://www.myspace.com/tarafdehaidouksbandofgypsies). They have amazing music and you will also be treated with a small sample in the movie. He is one of my favorite characters in the movie and one of my favorite performers on stage.

I'm trying to find any downsides to this movie but I personally can't. The person who accompanied me to the cinema said it was too...soapy. I was just sorry I was not alone in my home...This is a movie where you meet yourself so you'd better not have witnesses.

I liked Le Train De La Vie, but i loved Le Concert. Mihaileanu keeps things simple and withholds just a couple of info, in order to reveal the actual truth at the end of the movie. He creates a drama without forcing you into tears from the beginning, consolidating every dramatic moment with a gag, joke or just a funny face. He builds funny characters, that you can enjoy seeing without being worn off by their problems or issues.

He was able to make a 2 hours film that envelopes so much about drama, failure, communism, music and dedication that is quite impossible not to appreciate. This movie was quite a joy.