Rating: 4/5
Verdict: A good-hearted hoot
Unashamedly sentimental and almost indecently entertaining, this frolic by a French-based Romanian works far better than it has any right to, once you decide to turn an indulgently blind eye to its implausibilities.
The climax is a thrilling performance of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in
Paris' fabled Theatre du Chatelet but getting there is a good deal more than half the fun - and you don't have to be a classical music buff to enjoy the ride.
Andrei Filipov (Guskov), was sacked 30 years ago from his position as the conductor of the famed Bolshoi Orchestra.
The sobering reasons, which saw him labelled an enemy of the people, only slowly become clear and it's hard not to feel that his job these days as the theatre's janitor is a continuing ritual abasement.
His humiliation is compounded by the success of his wife - in one of many sly asides, she runs a business supplying extras to under-attended rallies of the Communist Party - and his musical glory days seem a distant memory.
Quite how he stumbles on an opportunity to play in Paris when the Los Angeles Philharmonic cancels is best not explained here: the mechanics are creaky and the logistics forbidding - the pesky details include finding an orchestra, instruments and passports - but we are happy to go along with it all because of the boundless energy and charm of all involved.
They include his titanic best mate (and cellist) Sacha Grossman (Nazarov) and a variety of old troupers who are now driving cabs or doing voiceover panting and groaning for porn movies.
But mystery surrounds Filipov's insistence on a particular soloist, Anne-Marie Jacquet (the lustrous Laurent from Inglourious Basterds), a prodigy who has never played the demanding concerto they have prescribed. All will be revealed.
It's an audacious undertaking, located at the intersection of satire, farce and melodrama, that threatens to fall on its face at every moment yet never does. Yes, we know that orchestras have to rehearse at least once when they haven't played together since the 70s and that violas don't grow on trees. Who cares? It's a good-hearted hoot with a tearjerking finale - and that Tchaikovsky fellow does a pretty good tune too.
Cast: Alexei Guskov, Dmitry Nazarov, Melanie Laurent
Director: Radu Mihaileanu
Running time: 119 mins
Rating: M (offensive language), in Russian and French with English subtitles
-TimeOut
