La symphonie des héros

Adapted from the excellent novel 'The General' by Alan Silitto this is set in wartime but is concerned with war of the psychological sort, waged between the two massive egos of orchestral conductor Lionel Evans and Wehrmacht General Schiller. Evans and his seventy piece orchestra are being held prisoner. Evans knows that if he bows to Schiller's demand that the orchestra play a concert for him their fate is sealed. Even as they rehearse a mass grave is being dug by the loathsome Colonel Arndt. I have no doubt that as soon as the critics learned that Heston was to play the part they started sharpening their knives. He is actually excellent in the role. Off the podium he has the single-mindedness required of a man whose job it is to bend seventy professional musicians to his will. On the podium he looks every inch a maestro and courtesy of conducting coach Leo Damiani both his baton technique and hand gestures are immaculate. What can say one of Maximilian Schell? There are some who would say that he could play this kind of role in his sleep but his splendid performance as Schiller is a joy to watch. Anton Diffring made a very good living by playing horrible Huns and here his Colonel Arndt is surely the most horrible. There has to be a 'love interest' of course and this is supplied by Kathryn Hays as a cellist who once had an affair with the conductor, is now married to the orchestral leader and is fancied by the general! The sublime music of Beethoven, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Brahms and Wagner is played by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The use of the last movement of Brahms' fourth symphony is used effectively to accompany the escape sequence. Director Ralph Nelson keeps things ticking over very nicely and maintains a steady 'andante'. Russell Metty again contributes superb cinematography. The film deals with 'opposing moralities' but not enough to send the audience to sleep. It opens and closes with the Fifth symphony of Beethoven, a man whose music represents a moral force that will endure whilst tyrannies and dictatorships rise and fall.

The very first movie I looked up when I stumbled on the IMDB was "Counterpoint." For years I had told people about this movie and how much of an impact it had on me, but no one had ever seen it -- some tried to convince me that I had imagined the whole thing! In their defense, it is a rather strange plot. I give this movie a substantial amount of the credit for beginning my appreciation for classical music. Unfortunately, you can only see it by purchasing it (I would presume). If the idea of a WWII/classical music/POW/intensely-driven-conductor movie sounds stupid, it probably isn't worth the price. If it sounds like it's right up your alley -- you shouldn't be disappointed.

I "rediscovered" and just watched this little gem of a film with Good classical music and great performances, particularly by Maximilian Schell. It's technically a war movie though. My rating of 7 is based on purely entertainment value. Pretty good

I make a difference, referring to war movies. There are some that are very faithful to the history such as Midway, Tora, Tora, Tora and there are some that emphasize the epic and heroic aspects of soldier life in terrible circumstances. I have to say that I am more interested in the second ones such as The Dirty Dozen, The Eagle has landed, etc. Counterpoint belongs to the second category. A famous music director (C. Heston) and his orchestra is kidnapped by the Nazy army in Belgium. The German General (M. Schell) wants this orchestra to play for him but the director delays this concert as much as possible to avoid his musicians to be killed. I think Ralphn Nelson felt some empathy for the character, starred by Heston because he was in the Army in the II World War and participated in different plays in Broadway to entertain people in the same way Heston tries to entertain soldiers in the cold Europe. Schell and Heston perform their roles perfectly: they admire each other but war has placed them in different sides of the river. Schell is far from the archetype of the Germans in the Hitler era. There is a love subplot between Heston and one old love, his musician,Kathryn Hays, who is now married with a partner, a serious Leslie Nielsen. This love story and the sequence in which an American soldier is nearly discovered by a German Colonel but he feigns to be a musician of the orchestra, playing the U.S. hymn, remind me of Casablanca. The cinematography of Russel Metty, in which the shadows have a relevant role, is quite brilliant. So, it deserves to be seen.

Juan Carlos del Castillo Álvarez

Let me qualify those 7 stars. You have to like Heston, Schell, WWII movies, and classical music in order to appreciate this movie. Heston is the conductor of an orchestra that is caught behind German lines during the Battle of the Bulge. Schell is a Prussian style educated yet cultured officer who is caught between his appreciation for culture and his orders not to delay the battle by wasting time on taking prisoners. The orchestra is USO. A side conflict is provided by the orchestra taking in 2 GIs who are also cut off behind enemy lines and hiding them as members of the orchestra. This is a war, "small w", movie. I remember a lot of grimacing from Heston and Schell, but that is what they do! Look beyond the cardboard characters and you may find a good little picture about a protagonist and an antagonist playing chess without a board.