La symphonie des héros

This is perhaps not a great movie; but as many viewers have attested over the years, it is a very memorable attempt at entertainment. The context of this dramatic film is WWII. People do strange things in wartime, I suggest; but once one accepts the physical presence of a fine orchestra led by a pompous but talented man in harm's way, where he can be coveted, captured and coerced by a civilized Nazi officer and menaced by an SS type, everything else falls into place. The other elements in the plot about an orchestra leader "not playing, for time" to save the lives of his orchestra's members and two US soldiers who have been caught in the same zone with no escape are these: a traitor in the orchestra; a relationship between the leader and a cellist; his relations with her husband, his concertmaster, the SS officer's desire to exterminate them, and the desire of the Nazi captor to have them play something just for him in the midst of wartime--these are unusual attributes for a 'war film, I assert. Those who missed the main point of the film, that the ethics of emergencies are different than those of normative times, thus missed why the movie was made. There are examples, in history such as "Playing For Time": for instance, of musicians and Jewish ones and females being kept alive to play for Nazi officers; the clever part here is that writers James Lee and Joel Oliansky 'fictionalized' the idea by providing interesting additions to the basic situation, which are: the aforementioned affair, the danger that brings out the characters more strongly, the need NOT to play, and the additional element of a traitor in their midst, the two US types and the often-used but effective distinction between civilized Germans serving Hitler's Nazi war'machine' and SS types enjoying their unlimited power to do harm to anyone they single out during that war. The change in the leader's character during the film is that he must remain true to himself and also prioritize what he does for the good of the group, no easy task. And the music is wonderful, the atmosphere so good even naysayers have remarked on it. As to the acting, it is far better than the mumbling and often ludicrous submediocrity that has characterized Hollywood unprofessionalism since 1973. The film was directed by Ralph Nelson. The good cast included Charlton Heston as the monomaniacal maestro, Maximilian Schell and Anton Diffrimf as the German contestants for the lives of the orchestra's members, Leslie Nielse and Kathryn hays as the other members of the love triangle, plus Neva Patterson, Cyril Delevanti, Gregory Morton, Parley Baer, Ed Peck, Peter Masterson, Curt Lowens and many more. Original music for the film was composed by Bronislau Kaper; cinematography was done by Russell Metty. Art direction was done by Carl Anderson and Alexander Golitzen, set decoration by John McCarthy Jr. and George Milo with costumes by Burton Miller The film is well-=aced, the dialogue above average, many scenes well-thought out; and the music alone is worth the price of admission. Anyone who does not enjoy this film and believe in its essential logic is perhaps an opponent of realistic behavior, actions that consist of dealing with the unusual sometimes, and with something other than rock-and-roll level cardboard types characterized by what is wrong with them and not by anything higher. Worth seeing more than once.

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

Although this movie got bad reviews and, as another member commented, was "absurd", I enjoyed the movie and am sorry that it has never been released on VHS or DVD. I would sure like to get a copy. One never even sees it on television any more so it could be taped. I guess I'm just a sentimentalist at heart, but the idea of going through the motions of putting on a concert for the Nazis to delay the SS execution of the group appealed to me. And when that soldier (I forget who the actor was), pretending to be a member of the band, played "The Star Spangled Banner", I was brought to tears. If any member knows where I could get a copy of this movie on VHS or DVD, I would appreciate an email.

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

Counterpoint remains one of my favorite movies mainly because of the interesting interplay between Schell's and Heston's characters. It is good movie making to set up a psychological tug-of-war with life at stake. Schell does an excellent job portraying a conflicted authoritarian who has stumbled upon a small bit of beauty in the midst of chaos. Schell exudes his character's charm and ultimate control over the situation when he comments on the orchestra's performance list - "Something Wagnerian perhaps..." I always have the feeling watching this movie that it would translate very well to the stage. Your eye is never distracted by other things. The premise, though a bit unrealistic, is still compelling enough to make the movie a good watch.