Le concours

Richard Dreyfuss (Mr. Holland's Opus, The Good Bye Girl), plays Paul Dietrich. a very problematic and sometimes annoying pianist. Paul is supported by his parents that puts pressure on him. He is also thirty years old and this is the cutting edge for this type of music competition. This is his last competition. All he wants to do is win, no matter how, and is hurting himself because of it. Amy Irving (Yentl), plays another pianist who is much more relaxed with herself and her music. Her teacher, Greta Vandemann, played by Lee Remick (Anatomy of a Murder) is possessive about Heidi. Greta Vandemann can trace her teachers all the way up to Beethoven himself! Heidi does not have the pressures that Paul has, she does not even care about winning. She stays in this beautiful house in San Francisco where she can practice on her nice piano, and Paul stays in a cheap hotel. He is a walking volcano. He is petulant, arrogant and annoying but at the same time can cry, which shows that he is human, vulnerable and also very afraid. He hides his feelings but it shows in his behavior. There are other musicians: the black guy who likes practicing the piano naked, the Italian who can play only one concerto but he is really looking for a way to become another De Niro, Pacino or Travolta. There is a very young Russian that adds a little suspense to the plot. They are all stereotypes. My favorite scenes are: Paul teaching Heidi how to drive a car; Heidi stopping playing in the middle of her performance because the middle register is uneven; how beautifully she played Prokofiev ‘s 3rd Concert; Paul been astonished because he was unaware that she could really play; Paul telling Greta that must to be a tremendous responsibility in having to know everything. Greta jumping for joy because she is always so proper. That shows another side to her. This is an enjoyable movie especially for pianists and musicians.

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!

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

To begin without thanking the principals for awesome piano faking would be horrendous, likewise to not applaud their training by Jean Evensen Shaw. There is a precision to what they do, with Amy and Richard to be sure but with all of them, that is astounding. It's a sweet tale but also an insight into the cruel world of music competition where the real hero this time around has to be Ludvig himself. If you have music and performing in you; if you have been classically trained; if you believe in love; then you will in turn love this movie and its music.

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."