The rivalry between father and son, a bottomless pit of psychoanalysis, novels and cinema.
But between an old father and an old son, the plot thickens, takes on a patina, and the bitterness takes on the urgency of passing time.
The interest of “Maestro(s)”, by Bruno Chiche, very freely adapted from the Israeli film “Footnote”, is that those who didn't know it yet will learn that you never change.
You can succeed in your life, the father's shadow will never disappear, nor will your imposture complex.
You do not have the right to exceed it.
It's inscribed in a corner of the unconscious, like the Tables of the Law.
This is the whole plot of this intelligent comedy.
Denis Dumar (Yvan Attal) is a conductor like his father François (Pierre Arditi), at the end of his career but still full of ambitions.
Two chiefs in the same family, it is perhaps too much to know who holds the baton.
In the comical opening scene, Denis wins a Victory for Classical Music, ahead of his mother (played by Miou-Miou), his ex-wife and still a benevolent agent (Pascale Arbillot) and his new violinist companion (Caroline Anglade).
Missing the father, jaw clenched in front of the TV broadcast.
He won't let go.
His son can succeed but above all stay in his place.
The second, not the first.
The affair thickens when the director of La Scala in Milan, or rather his secretary, leaves a message for François to offer him the post of chef, believing he has dialed the number of Denis, the real recipient of the golden contract.
This is where “Maestro(s)” becomes a fugue between allegro and theatrical and cymbal strokes.
A misunderstanding, and the music of family relations that gets carried away
Yvan Attal does not play it at all like a comedy or vaudeville situation in the theater, but like a dramatic misunderstanding.
The father will always be the statue of the Commander.
The whiskey remains for the son, the pangs of indecision and the consolation of seduction, in the arms of a young companion whom he pushes to become first violin when she does not have the talent for it, secondary plot a little less relevant.
But the Arditi-Attal clash remains tense and full of suspense until the end.
Do we ever settle the stories of the dominant male or simply of a real existence to oneself in front of the father?
We can quibble, ideologize, consider that the problem is outdated, “Maestro(s)” smells too much of experience not to capture our attention.
Conductor, department or nothing at all, it would be the same.
It is well known that a dad does not always rejoice so easily in the success of the son who comes to eat on his plate, or threaten his territory.
Well scripted and well acted, "Maestro(s)" knows the music of family relationships, also appeases the side of exes - no, the cold war is not necessarily declared forever - and does not spare its tenderness and a sense of mediation that invites reflection rather than putting oneself in the position of a hedgehog or falling out forever.
It could amuse you while sparing you a few sessions at the shrink.
To learn not to play false in his life.
Editor's note:
3.5/5
“Maestro(s)”, Dramatic comedy by Bruno Chiche, with Yvan Attal, Pierre Arditi, Miou-Miou, Pascale Arbillot, Caroline Anglade, 1h27.
