The Concert
14 Mar 2012
Director: Radu Mihaileanu
France
2009
119 min
A film about music but you don’t have to be a classical music aficionado to appreciate this gem of a film; similarly you shouldn’t be put off that it has been described as a commentary on 20 years of post-communist Eastern Europe. What it actually offers is a simple tale exquisitely told. A janitor, (Aleksey Guskov) gets a chance to relive his glorious past as conductor of the Bolshoi when he decides to take his own (fake) orchestra to perform in Paris. A farcical comedy leavened with beautiful music, moments of melancholy and emotion as director Mihaileanu shows a great knack for story telling.