How sad is this?

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I only recently discovered the wonders of French and indeed Russian films, I was truly intrigued by the story-line which in the final throws of the performance of Anne-Marie's Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto brought tears to my eyes as this was one of my mother's favourite piece of music, the magnificent throwbacks only served to enhance the films storyline. Whilst this film was pure-entertainment from start to finish; it does make you consider that to some music and art are the tools of liberation and to some how they seek to oppress.I loved the Maestro's (Andrey Simonovich Filipov) plan to reunite his orchestra, being composed of old Jewish and Gypsy musicians after a 30-year enforced interruption (KGB); do we not all desire to recapture our past that gave us so much pleasure, it was a pure- stroke of genius to include the conductors sellotaped (broken) baton which in my humble opinion said everything there is to say about this wonderful film i.e. the rekindling of one's dreams (Théâtre du Châtelet) in Paris. I can absolutely say that The Concert is a beautifully entertaining and a delightful masterpiece which I highly recommend for all the family.

or from the past. simple. and powerful. for the script, the acting and the different problems who defines a concert of Bolshoi Theater. the humor, the memories, the desire to create the present as revenge of the past failure, the strange characters and the flavor of different cultures, mixed, defined one by the other are marks of Mihaileanu. the Concert preserves each of them and use the nuances in a splendid fresco about art and success. it is something magic in this film. the scenes about past, the meetings, the old secrets, the crumbs of the every day reality , the respiration of a dream who becomes reality. a film about a trip to yourself.

Andrei Filipov, a talented Russian conductor, has been reduced to being a janitor in the theater that he loved and showed a promise some years ago. He had the audacity to defy the then president Brezhnev when he gave the order to fire all the Jewish musicians of the orchestra, by going ahead in a performance with all the Jewish musicians the higher ups wanted to banish. In fact, Filipov suffers the ultimate humiliation as he is conducting the Tchaikovski violin concerto. Ivan Gavrilov, the head of the Bolshoi comes to him on stage and proceeds to break his baton.Some years later, Filipov cleaning the Bolshoi's manager office, reads an incoming fax in which the head of the Chatelet theater in Paris is asking his Russian counterpart for an appearance since a slot has become available. Andrei has no problem in stealing the fax and sets out a plan in which to dupe the French into believing the real Bolshoi will be appearing at the Chatelet. For that he must ask his old rival, Gavrilov, to help him at last finish his rendition of the famous concert."Le concert" is a Russian-French co-production conceived and directed by Radu Mihaileanu, although it is based on a story by Hector Cabello Reyes and Thiery Degrandi. The comedy is basically seen from the Russian point of view. Andrei is able to assemble a motley crew of old Jewish musicians that were banned from playing in their native land because of prevailing prejudice against talented people that were seen as a threat to the government because of their intelligence.Andrei Filipov, through Gavrilov, demands the present of a young French violinist, Anne-Marie Jacquet, whose past, we get to know, has a connection with the maestro. The revelation is not earth shattering since the viewer has already guessed why Andrei wants Anne-Marie as the soloist for the Tchaikovski.Aleksei Guskov appears as Andrei Filipov, the disgraced musician. His sidekick is played by Dmitri Nazarov. Melanie Laurent makes an appealing Anne-Marie. Miou-Miou, Laurent Bateau and Francois Berland are seen in supporting roles.

The title is not of those "it's about Russians" things, but an expression of the success of the movie in conveying the emotions related to a concert, making even me understand the effort and be moved at the end, when they finally do it.The movie has a great idea, a funny script and all the actors in it play perfectly. The plot does have some holes in it, but that is besides the point. Like in The Ugly Duckling story, you know it's a fairy tale and that it is going to end well; the road there is what counts.Bottom line: French, Romanian and Russian actors and movie people get together to make a truly European movie. It has soul, it has magic, it sings; in the end, you hear the music.