Thirty years ago “Il Maestro” Andrei Filipov conducted Moscow’s renowned Bolshoi Theater’s orchestra as it played Tchaikovsky’s Concerto — Filipov’s idea of ultimate harmony. But KGB agent Ivan Gavrilov halted the concert and Filipov’s career because he chose Jewish musicians. Now Filipov, a janitor, is banned from watching orchestra rehearsals until the Bolshoi manager’s office is spotless. As he cleans, a fax arrives inviting the Bolshoi orchestra to play at Paris’ Chatelet Theater. Filipov reads the message and hatches a bold plan: to reassemble his former orchestra, impersonate the Bolshoi, and complete Tchaikovsky’s Concerto. He has two weeks to assemble 55 musicians. He rounds up a ragtag ensemble that includes an enterprising gypsy fiddler, ambulance driver/cellist Sacha, and more musicians languishing in mundane day jobs. As manager, he enlists the best he knows, his nemesis Gavrilov, and for a violin soloist he demands virtuoso Anne-Marie Jacquet (Inglourious Basterds‘ magnificent Mélanie Laurent). Too busy boozing and hawking Chinese cell phones to make it to rehearsal, Filipov’s misfit orchestra — more suited to a mad polka than a classical masterpiece — hardly seems capable of ultimate harmony. Charmingly comic and uplifting, flawed and sublime, Le Concert proves musical miracles are possible with a transcendental finale (and a César-winning score) worthy of tears.

See it for yourself: Le Concert (aka The Concert) will make its U.S. debut at the 36th Seattle International Film Festival on May 21.

Tags: mélanie laurent, seattle international film festival, siff