The Competition (1980)

Awesome Movie

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

This movie combines two of my favorite subjects: classical piano concertos and competitions. Here, Paul Dietrich (Richard Dreyfuss) must decide whether to get a real job or continue his attempt—at his parents' expense—to become a great concert pianist. Though things don't look too promising at his age, he decides to take one LAST attempt at his long-planned career as a concert pianist before "throwing in the towel." This chance arises with an announced competition in San Francisco. When he arrives, another pianist, Hiedie Joan Schoonover (Amy Irvin), recognizes him from a previous competition at Tanglewood even though he pretends not to recognize her at first. Paul vows NOT to become romantically involved with her since he knows that personal involvement and competition do not mix!!! However, an unforeseen delay in the finals, coupled with devastating news from home, draws Paul to Heidi in spite of his vow. Another element to the story is that Heidi's teacher, Greta Vandermann (Lee Remick), wants to continue a teacher-pupil linage which stems clear back to Beethoven. So, this competition is also Greta's chance to continue this linage. The movie is also enhanced by Sam Wanamaker, who makes a great temperamental conductor. For the record, in the portrayed competition: Paul performs Beethoven's Emperor Concerto and Heidi performs Prokofiev's 3rd Piano Concerto.

Amy Irving, Richard Dreyfuss, Lee Remick, and Sam Wanamaker star in "The Competition," a 1980 film, written and directed by Joel Oliansky. The story concerns pianists gathering for the semifinals of a competition in San Francisco. Paul Dietrich (Dreyfuss) has one last shot at a career as a pianist, given his age, and the fact that his parents have been supporting him, and his dad is in bad shape. Heidi (Irving) knew Paul from a summer program. She studies with a top teacher, Greta Vandeman (Remick) and is there basically to see how far she can go. Despite Paul's attempts to put off the smitten Heidi, he finally admits his feelings, and the two fall in love. Greta isn't happy - she's afraid Heidi is going to lose her competitive edge and take a back seat so that Paul can win.This very good movie is just about overshadowed by the brilliant music and the magnificent fingerings and look of the actors as they're playing. They obviously had the benefit of great coaching.The film gives a realistic look at the tension of competitions, and the various states of mind that people have going into them. For Paul, it's his last shot; the Joseph Cali character wants to use it as a steppingstone to Vegas and a Liberace-type act; Heidi has nothing to lose. There is a lot of psychoanalysis throughout the film, which some may find off-putting. It does go on.Amy Irving is an excellent actress, and she does a beautiful job here. Dreyfuss is also excellent, coming off as desperate, arrogant, and sad. Lee Remick is the ultimate piano teacher who knows too well the pitfalls of being a woman, particularly a woman in love.If you like classical piano, don't miss "The Competition."

If this flick was going to be the great prelude to the movie "Shine," I would definitely say yes.As you may know, "Shine" also takes place during a big piano concerto competition at the Royal College of Music, where the character David Helfgott tries to the utmost to beat his schizophrenic mind as he plays the most notorious concerto ever--The Rachmaninov Piano Concerto no. 3."The Competition" also takes a moderate borrowing from the aspects and the plots from another movie called "Madame Sousatka", which depicts a competitive piano performer preparing for a concerto competition with Schumann's A Minor Piano Concerto, with an old--but very strict---piano teacher. Both movies tell a little bit on how some people are so obsessed with practicing for a piano competition and teachers who are almost or not almost always strict in pianistic interpretation.But what makes "The Competition" even better than "Madame Sousatka" or "Shine" is how a romance can make or break piano competition training, and how winning a competition can change your life for the better. The best character I liked was the one played by Amy Irving.During the final competition scene, where competing piano concerto participants play with a full orchestra, you hear snipets from some of the great piano concertos that are still played today. They were: the Haydn D Major Concerto, The G minor by Saint-Saens, the 3rd Concerto in C Major by Prokofiev, and the Emperor Piano Concerto by Beethoven.

"The Competition" is a very enjoyable movie and delves slightly into the stress of piano-competition. There are more shenanigans going-on that are not apparent in this type of competition, not only for the many pianists' stresses, but also on the part the judges play in choosing the finalist. Those competitions deal with humans, and ANYTHING can influence the judges' decisions. The best pianist does not always win. This movie shows some of the competitors' "required" pieces being performed: it's more than the "concerto"-playing part of the contest. In many competitions, the pianist is given an unfamiliar score for "sight-reading" and affects the final judgment. The "concerto"-playing event is always the big one: after making it to that event, the stress is almost unbearable. You only get to play the concerto once; anything can screw it up. When a major artist releases ANY recorded concerto, the general public does not always realize the recording is not done in one sitting. Just like scenes in a movie, many passages are recorded several times and the best chosen to splice them all seamlessly together. For the "concerto"-playing event, you have one crack at it. Heck, one could play flawlessly, but a judge may just not like them at that particular performance. Very similar to skating in the Olympics, "deals" are made, too.....Many years ago, I was a concert-pianist talent. To me, ALL of the six finalists' synchronized banging looked pretty good. It is my opinion, some of the competitors who didn't make it to the big event WERE actually playing. AND, I also think that "Tatjana" (Vicki Kriegler) was actually playing the short sequences of Braham's 1st Concerto. I'm very familiar with that concerto, and it's a killer. What convinces me of this is the "curve" of her fingers of her left hand which is necessary to play those big chords. After all, actors/actresses DO play piano !!! Her role didn't call for her to "place", anyway......I also agree that "Heidi" (Amy Irving) almost convinced me she was playing Prokofiev's #3 - another ballbuster. Great coaching! That entire scene was brilliant, with "Erskine" (Sam Wanamaker) looking over his shoulder at her, realizing "Dietrich's" (Richard Dreyfus) performance was popular with the audience (did you notice the orchestra stood-up?), but "Heidi" made them all look like first-year students. Po' ole "DiSalvo" (Joseph Cali) had to follow her ! Most comments thought "Greta Vandernmann" (Lee Remick) was a-bitch-on-wheels teacher. Brava, Lee ! She was only certain her pupil was the best, but her own career had taught her raw talent wasn't the only ingredient necessary to make a world-class pianist. Just like football-coaches, piano-teachers can be brutally tyrannical - not nice at all. Does anyone remember the admonishment "those who can't play teach"? Lots of jealousy in there......It doesn't matter that the plot of this movie was predictable - "Paul" WAS a bit too assured and rude. The "gotta-make-a-stop" scene told the whole story; we are there to make music, not sex. Noticeably, it was "Paul's" last shot; "Heidi" had nothing to lose and was confident of her talent. The chemistry between the two was there with brilliant acting - especially, "I-never-thought-you-could-play-better-than-me" scene. The entire cast was stellar, as was the directing.Oh - for "stetsons" - there ARE DVDs available on eBay. Be careful what you buy ! And, many DVDs of all of the concerti by many great artists are available. If you want to revel in this awesome music, imagine how the entireties of these concerti will wow you - you heard only passages of each. For the Prokofiev piece, just remember "Heidi's" hands....."The Competition" has something for all kinds of movie-watchers. Good acting, believable characters, a little political intrigue, a little "backstage" intrigue, lovely cinematography and all that great music. What a winner - 10, no doubt !