The Concert

A man dismissed thirty years ago as conductor of the Bolshoi for political reasons, and working as a cleaner in the same building ever since, intercepts an invitation from Paris. He decides to gather his old orchestra in secret and go as the real Bolshoi. The film builds the imposture as comedy, but a hard history sits underneath: the musicians were dispersed because they were Jewish. The narrative withholds this until the last stretch and reveals it during the concert, so the music becomes the thing that carries the information. Radu Mihaileanu directed. Melanie Laurent is in the cast. It won Cesar awards in France. Who it's for: those who like sentimental comedy carried by music. Who it's not for: viewers troubled by Russian and Roma characters drawn as types; much of the humour rests on that.