A renowned conductor of the Bolshoi orchestra, was once fired for hiring Jewish musicians. Now a mere cleaning man at the Bolshoi, he plans to gather together his former musicians to perform in Paris in the place of the current Bolshoi orchestra. That's the scenario for this week's movie presented by the Magnetic Island Film Society at the all Seasons hotel on Mandalay Ave in Nelly Bay.

ABC Radio national's reviewer Julie Rigg described The Concert, as "...a completely, wonderfully preposterous melodrama from Romanian-born French director Radu Mihaeleanu. Laurent plays a famous French violinist who becomes caught up in a scheme by a former conductor of the Bolshoi Orchestra, Andrei Filipov, to return to his glory days with one last, daring performance of Tchaikovsky's concerto for violin and orchestra. In Paris. Impersonating the real Bolshoi orchestra.

The Concert is a strange combination of caper film and melodrama. You can spot every familiar move the film makes before it does so, and often it does so more than once. Indeed, there is not a single comic or dramatic plot gambit it ignores. And yet, I found it extremely engaging.
... But it's a film rich in detail: from the glimpses of the inventiveness with which contemporary Russian middle classes eke out their incomes these days, to the bizarreness of the troupe in Paris, guided by nostalgic memories of a city they barely knew in the Communist era.

The other great pleasure is Melanie Laurent. She's just one of those actresses who enchants the gaze, and she brings to this film, and its second and third act particularly, a presence which is perfectly pitched. ... Aided of course, or finally surrendering to, Tchaikovsky's concerto for violin and orchestra. This reviewer became all teary. Check it out, and, if you do, take a hankie.

Screening at the Endeavour Room all seasons hotel, 61 Mandalay Ave Nelly Bay – Refreshments at the Restaurant & Bar.

Film details:
Cast: Alexei Guskov, Mélanie Laurent, Dimitri Nazarov, Miou-Miou, Francois Berleand, Lionel Abelanski

Running time: 119
mins

Language: French

Classification: M

Screening info:
Please be early so we may start PROMPTLY at 8.00 pm

Admission:
Adults $10.00
Conc. $8.00
Members Free
Annual membership: $50.00
Conc. $40.00
Annual membership includes admission for one calendar year (11 screenings) & discount to the Film Festival (March each year). Half-yearly also available