The Competition

I loved 'The Competition', though the characters and situations were predictable and stereotyped, (i.e. domineering teachers and butthole conductors) mostly because it told me that there are many people interested in music and 'behind the scenes' of what it means to devote your life to music. Most of all, the movie piqued my interest in Prokoviev, so that I now collect his music. Not bad for the price of a movie ticket!

Amy Irving, Richard Dreyfuss, Lee Remick, and Sam Wanamaker star in "The Competition," a 1980 film, written and directed by Joel Oliansky.

The story concerns pianists gathering for the semifinals of a competition in San Francisco. Paul Dietrich (Dreyfuss) has one last shot at a career as a pianist, given his age, and the fact that his parents have been supporting him, and his dad is in bad shape.

Heidi (Irving) knew Paul from a summer program. She studies with a top teacher, Greta Vandeman (Remick) and is there basically to see how far she can go. Despite Paul's attempts to put off the smitten Heidi, he finally admits his feelings, and the two fall in love.

Greta isn't happy - she's afraid Heidi is going to lose her competitive edge and take a back seat so that Paul can win.

This very good movie is just about overshadowed by the brilliant music and the magnificent fingerings and look of the actors as they're playing. They obviously had the benefit of great coaching.

The film gives a realistic look at the tension of competitions, and the various states of mind that people have going into them. For Paul, it's his last shot; the Joseph Cali character wants to use it as a steppingstone to Vegas and a Liberace-type act; Heidi has nothing to lose. There is a lot of psychoanalysis throughout the film, which some may find off-putting. It does go on.

Amy Irving is an excellent actress, and she does a beautiful job here. Dreyfuss is also excellent, coming off as desperate, arrogant, and sad. Lee Remick is the ultimate piano teacher who knows too well the pitfalls of being a woman, particularly a woman in love.

If you like classical piano, don't miss "The Competition."

First the flaws: the extraneous characters of the various competitors are pretty blatant stereotypes, not offensive, but not particularly compelling either. The time spent on them would have been better spent on further development of the relationship between Paul (Richard Dreyfuss) and Heidi (Amy Irving) two pianists facing off in the same competition who fall in love while preparing for it. Secondly, the "contemporary" music...it was released in 1980, but all you hear in bars and at parties is disco music. It makes everything seem a little too quaint and cute to be real.

Moments of greatness: The clashes and arguments that ensue between Paul and Heidi make it obvious why they fall in love, but it happens very quickly. Which is fine in a standard romance, but that isn't what this movie is. These two people are complex individuals with various insecurities and desires that make the love story so great, so interesting and so real. But the ending feels strange...a lot happens before the film's resolution, and leaves me feeling that the characters haven't been explored enough. The movie's shining moment is during the second half of the competition, when Paul has already played and Heidi proceeds to blow him out of the water. Irving's performance onstage is totally convincing, and Dreyfuss conveys an incredible amount of emotion and intelligence simply in his reactions to the piece.

The tension here is incredible, and very, very real. A good movie--one that dares to show its characters in an unglamorous, real way few movies have

Ostensibly about the competitiveness between gifted young pianists, this picture is actually about ambition, disappointment, sacrifice, love, betrayal and a lot more. By the time this film was made, Dreyfuss had already fallen into his period of self-adulation during which he exalted himself, but sometimes, sadly, not his work. Amy Irving had not yet married (and divorced) Steven Spielberg, a move that for many reasons probably ended her career in Hollywood. As leads, they both came to their roles in perfect form, and their intelligent and layered performances are the centerpiece of this astounding ensemble cast.

The movie does a great job of convincing us that we are looking through the keyhole into the rarefied world of young pianists who look upon the likes Vladimir Ashkenazy as a peer while still finding themselves as adults. They angst over their futures, which always seem just out of reach, and then render performances of the classical repertoire that amaze and delight. All the while, they trip through the comically serious pas de deux of youthful obsession.

Lee Remick is stunning as the demanding teacher to Heidi Joan Schoonover (Irving). I get the feeling that the original character was supposed to be a lesbian, but Remick's instrument won't play that note. Instead, she is a hard-nosed, totally serious, single-minded taskmaster who demands, and brings forth, the best from her pupil. Dreyfuss is the driven and desperate young man who, while gifted, has never been able to break through as a serious musician, and who, hounded by financial responsibilities and tempted by a job that cannot possibly provide more than a paycheck, runs the risk of being washed up at 25.

They become romantically involved, much to Remick's dismay, only to find themselves competing head to head for the most coveted prize in their field. Can they work it out knowing that only one of them can win? Hey, it's the 80's!

There are basically two kinds of movies. Those in which things happen, and those in which we get to know the characters. This is a shining example of the latter. I've loved this film since its original release, but I still yearn for a DVD edition.

I managed to watch this on Amazon streaming movies. The central characters are world-class pianists and even though they didn't play their own piano selections they faked it really well.

Richard Dreyfuss (actually 32) is Paul Dietrich and Amy Irving (actually 26) is Heidi Joan Schoonover. They had met at some random event some time back but now find themselves as competitors in a world-class piano competition. We know there is more than a spark of mutual attraction but while Heidi is more social and relaxed Paul feels he has to be totally focused to win the competition, because of that outlook he often acts like a real jerk. Maybe deep down he is a jerk. But a lovable one.

My understanding is this didn't do well at the boxoffice 40 years ago but viewed today it comes off really well. Both Dreyfuss and Irving shine in their respective roles. The music is nice.

This is 2020 and what is socially accepted has changed, drastically in some cases. Near the end at a party celebrating the winners one contestant, a young man, grabs the butt of an attractive 40-something woman who walks by with her date or husband. She just turns to him and smiles.