Top: first meeting of old friends after thirty years — Sasha (Nazarov), Andrej (Guskov), and Ivan (Barinov). Bottom: business discussion between Anne-Marie (Laurent) and her agent Guylène (Miou-Miou)
The Concert (Le concert) is a French/Russian film from 2009. It was directed by Radu Mihaileanu and starred Aleksey Guskov, Dmitriy Nazarov, Valeriy Barinov, Mélanie Laurent, and Miou Miou.
Andrej Filipov (Guskov), a once brilliant conductor who had since fallen from grace and is now working as a janitor at Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, by chance intercepts a message from Parisian Théâtre du Châtelet, inviting the Bolshoi orchestra to give a concert there. He devises a plan to gather his old orchestra — now disbanded and working whatever odd jobs they can find — and go to Paris impersonating the Bolshoi orchestra. He recruits his old friend Sasha (Nazarov), a chellist, as well as their old manager Ivan Gavrilov (Barinov) to help with that scheme; also, a famous violinist Anne-Marie Jacquet (Laurent) is supposed to play solo in their rendition of Tchaikovsky's violin concerto. However, there is more under the surface, some people have other agendas, and some secrets from thirty years ago come to surface, as this lighthearted comedy nears its surprisingly emotional and satisfying conclusion.
Tropes in 'The Concert':
- The Alcoholic: Andrej started drinking after being fired from conductor's position. During their dinner with Anne-Marie he becomes visibly distressed, and starts downing shots. Later he is shown completely wasted, and Sasha indicates this is by no means the first time.
- The Alleged Car: Sasha, after getting kicked out of the orchestra, became an ambulance driver; neither he nor Andrej have a car, so they drive around Moscow in an ambulance car, while trying to assemble the orchestra members.
- The Atoner: Ivan, who was forced to stop the concert thirty years ago, deeply regrets that and does his best to get the orchestra to play again.
- Bait-and-Switch: The movie very heavily implies that Anne-Marie is Andrej's daughter, with Guylène being the most likely candidate for her mother. The ending gives a much more satisfying answer.
- Beleaguered Assistant: Jean-Paul, the assistant to the director of Théâtre du Châtelet, shows shades of that. After all, it's him who has to deal with angry Russians demanding they get paid immediately, or else.
- Bloodless Carnage: Genkine's wedding reception turns into a firefight. Despite of the amount of lead in the air, we don't see any blood, and all the main characters appear to be unharmed.
- Bookends: In the beginning, Andrej is imagining conducting an orchestra in Bolshoi theatre. In the end, he is conducting an orchestra in Théâtre du Châtelet.
- Borrowed Without Permission: Vassili promised to procure some musical instruments. He mentions at some point that he is still missing one bassoon — he tried to borrow it somewhere, but the police just have to stick their nose in everything.
- Brick Joke: At the wedding, Ivan mentions that they are unlikely to find a financial backer, since rich guys nowadays buy football clubs, not orchestras. A bit later, while Tretyakin is writing them a check, his mother berates him and demands that he buys a football club instead.
- Briefcase Full of Money: Viktor and Moses carry a large plastic storage bag full of money, unzipped and out in the open. They are in a big hurry, and care more about getting to their destination in time than about (gasp) losing money.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Vassili the first violin seems to be one. He is the leader of a Romany tribe, and engages in many stereotypical behaviors of a Romany, including selling fake passports (with visas) right in the international airport, stealing musical instruments, and generally being overly enthusiastic Large Ham. His violin technique is impeccable, and Anne-Marie is very impressed when he stops goofing around and plays classical music.
- Concert Climax: In the end of the movie the whole Tchaikovsky's violin concerto is performed. Unlike many other examples, this is exactly what the whole plot was about. Apart from being generally awesome, it also provides background music for some surprising reveals, as well as some flashforwards.
- Consummate Professional: Anne-Marie Jacquet is visibly frustrated when the orchestra starts their performance very poorly. Nevertheless, she puts her violin to her shoulder and delivers the best solo she can manage. The orchestra gets better after that.
- Crazy-Prepared: Ivan does foresee the trouble with a bus, supposed to bring the musicians to the airport, not arriving. That's why he made everybody gather a few hours earlier than they needed to. His solution to that problem is effective... but bizarre.
- Didn't Think This Through: Before departing to France, Moses gave each orchestra member a phone to smuggle through customs. The problem? None of them was willing to give it back.
- Dirty Communists: The movie doesn't hide its very negative attitude towards communist party, but at the same time subverts it: Ivan, undeniably a good guy, is also a devoted communist.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Sure, it is not nice if your business rival starts making out with your bride at your own wedding reception. But is it a good reason to turn the whole reception into a firefight, in front of a (presumably federal) minister and several members of parliament?
- Famed In-Story: Sasha expresses doubt about them asking for a superstar like Anne-Marie Jacquet to play with them, on such a short notice. Ivan immediately counters that, as Bolshoi Theatre orchestra, they are also superstars.
- Five-Man Band:
- The Leader: Andrej. At one point one of the musicians explicitly calls him that.
- The Lancer: Sasha. He is Andrej's best friend, and usually holds the opposite opinion, sometimes even changing it simultaneously with Andrej.
- The Smart Guy: Ivan. He handles all the details of their trip, and, while out of touch with the modern times, is still a good manager.
- The Big Guy: Vassili. Not physically strong, but he finds it very easy to clear any obstacles in their path; he is also an awesome violin player.
- The Heart: Their true heart is Lea, who is dead. Anne-Marie, her daughter, somewhat reluctantly steps into that role.
- Flashback: There are several, to what happened about thirty years ago in Soviet Union.
- Flipping the Bird: In the end, the fake Bolshoi orchestra we were following flips an epic one to the real Bolshoi orchestra.
- Forced into Evil: Ivan most definitely did not want to go on stage and stop Andrej's performance, but he was under strict orders. Andrej understands that, while Sasha refuses to believe it.
- Friend-or-Idol Decision: Ivan went to France in hopes to reinvigorate the french communist party. But when he notices Leonid coming to the theatre, he has to make a decision: go to a party meeting in pursuit of his agenda, or intercept Leonid and try to help his friends. He wastes no time abandoning his own plans.
- Giant Mook: While Romanys under Vassili's command are selling fake documents in the airport, one cop notices the commotion and moves closer to investigate. He is immediately intercepted by two big, burly guys who mockingly offer to manicure his hands or tell his fortune. He wisely backs out.
- Gladiator Games: Genkine's wedding features some gladiator re-enactment.
- Gratuitous Russian: Some of Russian lines are not quite realistic, but the actors do an admirable job of selling them as real dialogue.
- Greedy Jew: Viktor and his son Moses serve as comedic relief in the second half of the movie. They are both good people, and they come to support their friends when needed, but they cut it real close trying to make a quick buck.
- The Gulag: It is revealed at the end that Anne-Marie's real parents died there.
- Ham-to-Ham Combat: Sasha and Ivan do a pretty good job out-hamming each other when they first meet.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: Andrej tried to protect jews in his orchestra. During a conversation with Anne-Marie, he tries to downplay it, saying he had no choice, since he won't be able to perform without those extremely capable musicians. This is a part of a reason why other orchestra members respect him so much.
- Also, Guylène smuggled little Anne-Marie from USSR, probably saving her life, and never told her.
- Hidden Agenda Villain: That's what Sasha suspects Ivan of being. As it turns out, Ivan does have another motive for going to Paris, besides just managing the orchestra, but it is not really villainous, and he abandons it completely at the end, when faced with a choice between his own mission and helping his friends.
- Hypocrite: Ivan learns that Sasha is frequently using the phone, belonging to the Bolshoi Theatre, to make international calls, and berates him for that. While preparing to use that very phone to make an international call.
- Like Father, Like Son: Moses is at least just as good in commerce as Viktor. He is also a good musician, just like his father.
- Anne-Marie, a superstar violinist, is a daughter of Lea, who was similarly awesome.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: After the shaky start of the concert (after all, the musicians didn't play for about thirty years, and didn't even rehearse) Ivan, a devoted communist, demands that God proves his existence by helping the orchestra. When it suddenly starts playing perfectly, Ivan becomes convinced that God does exist. It is possible that the musicians, professionals as they are, just took their instruments under control and started showing what they are really capable of.
- My Greatest Failure: Thirty years ago, Andrej couldn't finish Tchaikovsky's concerto — the order came from above to stop the performance right in the middle. Also, Ivan was the one who had to carry this order, and is very eager to give Andrej a second chance.
- National Stereotypes: A lot. Russian, Jewish and Romany stereotypes are everywhere, although underneath there are real human drives and emotions.
- Never-Forgotten Skill: Ivan claims that bargaining is similar to riding a bike. He does get pretty much everything he asks for, but let's not forget that the other side is pretty desperate for the negotiations to succeed... and also wonders why Ivan is not asking for more.
- The New Russia: Tretyakin is an oligarch, described as "the cobalt king" of Russia. His friend Genkine fits the "New Russian" stereotype even better.
- The '90s: While the movie is set in around 2009, when it came out, the russian parts give a feeling of being set about a decade earlier, with communist party struggling to gain any support, crime being committed routinely in full view, and businessmen being indistinguishable from gangsters.
- Phony Veteran: Andrej (who, presumably, knows a guy who knows a guy) offers to get Ivan an ID of a World War II veteran, so that the latter would be able to use public transportation for free. Ivan replies that he already has one.
- Pretend Prejudice: Ivan utters an antisemitic slur, while trying to convince Leonid they are on the same side.
- Putting the Band Back Together: That is what Andrej and Sasha are doing for about a half of the movie.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money! / Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Tretyakin's approach to the TV broadcast of a concert. He doesn't care the rights were already sold to a french TV network; he just demands them, as he has money, and the Russian president is his friend. He also wants the broadcast to focus mostly on him. He gets his wish in a way that he'd rather not.
- Senseless Violins: In a non-violent example, Guylène uses a chello case to smuggle an orphan child out of Soviet Union.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Tretyakin thinks very highly of himself as a chello player. He is so bad, that other musicians resort to extraordinary measures to ensure he doesn't join them when they are performing.
- Snow Means Death: Several flashbacks, showing how things went to hell thirty years ago, are outside, accompanied by heavy snow. This trope becomes very literal for poor Lea, who died in The Gulag of starvation and cold.
- Still Got It: Ivan is still a great orchestra manager — or so Andrej, Sasha, and Ivan himself think. In reality, he is hopelessly out of touch with modern times — for example, he mentions that he asked a double price for the orchestra performance, but at the same time the french theatre director wonders why Bolshoi orchestra is so cheap. There are more things Ivan gets completely wrong. However, we see on at least two occasions that his wits are still intact: once when he convinces Tretyakin to pay for their trip, while both of them crawl away from bullets, and another in the end when he easily outmaneuvers Leonid.
- There Are No Therapists: Discussed. After getting to know Andrej better, Anne-Marie comes to conclusion that what he needs is therapy, not the concert. It seems that the concert was what he actually needed: in a flashforward we see him in a much better condition after the concert's success.
- This Is Gonna Suck: When Genkine's rival starts making out with his bride during wedding reception, Andrej slowly slides under the table, anticipating the trouble. He is right.
- Trophy Wife: What Genkine's bride is going to be, it seems: Genkine seems very dismissive of her, and she wears a very Stripperiffic bridal gown.
- Vodka Drunkenski: After getting to Paris, most musicians immediately start perusing the hotel minibars.
- "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: After it becomes obvious that the concert is going to be a success, we are treated to a flashforward, showing the orchestra's tour around the world, earning widest recognition.
