The Competition (film)
Encyclopedia
The Competition is a 1980 American drama film starring Richard Dreyfuss
and Amy Irving
, directed by Joel Oliansky.
Against his better judgment, Paul decides to travel to San Francisco for an international piano competition. It could cost him the job back home in Chicago, where his father is seriously ill, but he wants one last stab at success.
The competition for a financial grant and performing engagements with famed conductor Andrew Erskine pits the intense and arrogant Paul against a select group of talented artists. He advances to the final cut of six, which includes a brash New Yorker named Jerry DiSalvo who knows how to play only one concerto, a sophisticated world traveler named Michael Humphries who likes to rehearse in the nude, a Canadian pianist named Mark Landau who's note-perfect but emotionally moribund, and a meek Russian girl named Tatjana Baronova whose teacher disrupts the contest by seeking political asylum in the United States.
Another contestant is Heidi Joan Schoonover, a wealthy young American who has felt a romantic inclination toward Paul ever since meeting him briefly at music festival. Heidi is scolded by her esteemed music teacher, Greta, not to let personal matters interfere with her concentration. And she is rebuffed rudely by Paul, who also doesn't care to be distracted.
Troubled by his situation, however, Paul goes to Heidi and asks if they can talk. In spite of the disapproving Greta, they go on a date, during which Paul pours out his heart about his family's circumstances. She reassures him. The two end up making love in Paul's hotel room. Just before the competition, she realizes how much winning means to Paul and tries to drop out. Greta angrily tells off Paul, blaming him for hurting Heidi's chances by making her guilty for competing against him.
Paul persuades her to return to the competition. It begins and everyone is excellent. But partway through her performance, Heidi's piano has a tuning malfunction and she is forced to stop. Rather than fold under pressure, Heidi angrily demands a new concerto and performs it with magnificence. She is voted the winner, with Paul finishing in second place.
Heidi is happy because she and Paul have agreed to form a partnership, combining their talents and resources no matter which of them wins. But to her surprise, Paul is disturbed by the fact that she gave such an excellent performance, and leaves.
However, at a victory party following the performance, he eventually comes to his senses and returns to be a part of her victory celebration.
Co-starring
1981 Academy Awards
Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Stephen Dreyfuss is an American actor best known for starring in a number of film, television, and theater roles since the late 1960s, including the films American Graffiti, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Goodbye Girl, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Stakeout, Always, What About...
and Amy Irving
Amy Irving
Amy Davis Irving is an American actress, known for her roles in the films Crossing Delancey, The Fury, Carrie, and Yentl as well as acclaimed roles on Broadway and Off-Broadway. She has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Golden Globes, and has won an Obie award...
, directed by Joel Oliansky.
Plot
Paul Dietrich is an extremely gifted but disillusioned classical pianist, running out of time to prove himself. He logically believes that the time has come to give up performing in piano competitions and accept a salaried position as a music teacher at a school.Against his better judgment, Paul decides to travel to San Francisco for an international piano competition. It could cost him the job back home in Chicago, where his father is seriously ill, but he wants one last stab at success.
The competition for a financial grant and performing engagements with famed conductor Andrew Erskine pits the intense and arrogant Paul against a select group of talented artists. He advances to the final cut of six, which includes a brash New Yorker named Jerry DiSalvo who knows how to play only one concerto, a sophisticated world traveler named Michael Humphries who likes to rehearse in the nude, a Canadian pianist named Mark Landau who's note-perfect but emotionally moribund, and a meek Russian girl named Tatjana Baronova whose teacher disrupts the contest by seeking political asylum in the United States.
Another contestant is Heidi Joan Schoonover, a wealthy young American who has felt a romantic inclination toward Paul ever since meeting him briefly at music festival. Heidi is scolded by her esteemed music teacher, Greta, not to let personal matters interfere with her concentration. And she is rebuffed rudely by Paul, who also doesn't care to be distracted.
Troubled by his situation, however, Paul goes to Heidi and asks if they can talk. In spite of the disapproving Greta, they go on a date, during which Paul pours out his heart about his family's circumstances. She reassures him. The two end up making love in Paul's hotel room. Just before the competition, she realizes how much winning means to Paul and tries to drop out. Greta angrily tells off Paul, blaming him for hurting Heidi's chances by making her guilty for competing against him.
Paul persuades her to return to the competition. It begins and everyone is excellent. But partway through her performance, Heidi's piano has a tuning malfunction and she is forced to stop. Rather than fold under pressure, Heidi angrily demands a new concerto and performs it with magnificence. She is voted the winner, with Paul finishing in second place.
Heidi is happy because she and Paul have agreed to form a partnership, combining their talents and resources no matter which of them wins. But to her surprise, Paul is disturbed by the fact that she gave such an excellent performance, and leaves.
However, at a victory party following the performance, he eventually comes to his senses and returns to be a part of her victory celebration.
Cast
Starring- Richard DreyfussRichard DreyfussRichard Stephen Dreyfuss is an American actor best known for starring in a number of film, television, and theater roles since the late 1960s, including the films American Graffiti, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Goodbye Girl, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Stakeout, Always, What About...
- Paul Dietrich - Amy IrvingAmy IrvingAmy Davis Irving is an American actress, known for her roles in the films Crossing Delancey, The Fury, Carrie, and Yentl as well as acclaimed roles on Broadway and Off-Broadway. She has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Golden Globes, and has won an Obie award...
- Heidi Joan Schoonover - Lee RemickLee RemickLee Ann Remick was an American film and television actress. Among her best-known films are Anatomy of a Murder , Days of Wine and Roses , and The Omen .-Early life:...
- Greta Vandemann - Sam WanamakerSam WanamakerSamuel Wanamaker was an American film director and actor and is credited as the person most responsible for the modern recreation of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London...
- Andrew Erskine
Co-starring
- Joseph CaliJoseph CaliJoseph Cali is an American actor.He is most remembered for playing Joey in the 1977 blockbuster movie Saturday Night Fever.Cali has appeared in TV and films such as 'Voices The Competition with Amy Irving...
- Jerry DiSalvo - Ty Henderson - Michael Humphries
- Vicki Kriegler - Tatjana Baronova
- Adam Stern - Mark Landau
- Bea Silvern - Madame Gorshev
- Philip Sterling - Mr. Dietrich
- Gloria StroockGloria StroockGloria Stroock was an American film and television actress who was born in New York City. The older sister of actress Geraldine Brooks, Stroock was best known for her supporting role in the television series McMillan & Wife as Maggie, the secretary of lead character Stewart McMillan...
- Mrs. Dietrich - Delia Salvi - Mrs. DiSalvo
- Priscilla PointerPriscilla PointerPriscilla Pointer is an American stage, film and television character actress. She began her career in the theater, including productions on Broadway. Later, Pointer moved to Hollywood to act in films and on television...
- Mrs. Donellan - James B. SikkingJames SikkingJames Barrie Sikking is an American actor known for his role as Lt. Howard Hunter on the 1980s NBC TV series Hill Street Blues. He also starred on the ABC TV series Doogie Howser, M.D. as Dr. David Howser and on the short-lived 1997 CBS drama series Brooklyn South as Captain Stan Jonas...
- Brudenell - Elaine Welton Hill - Mitzi
- Ben Hammer - Nichols
Music
- The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Lalo SchifrinLalo SchifrinLalo Schifrin is an Argentine composer, pianist and conductor. He is best known for his film and TV scores, such as the "Theme from Mission: Impossible". He has received four Grammy Awards and six Oscar nominations...
- GinasteraAlberto GinasteraAlberto Evaristo Ginastera was an Argentine composer of classical music. He is considered one of the most important Latin American classical composers.- Biography :...
, Piano Sonata No. 1
Eduardo Delgado, Pianist - BrahmsJohannes BrahmsJohannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
, Piano Concerto No. 1
Ralph Grierson, Pianist - ChopinFrédéric ChopinFrédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
, Piano Concerto in E minor
Lincoln MayorgaLincoln MayorgaLincoln Mayorga is an American pianist, arranger, conductor and composer who has worked in rock and roll, pop, jazz and classical music.-Pop music in the 1950s and 60s:...
, Pianist - ProkofievSergei ProkofievSergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century...
, Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major
Daniel PollackDaniel PollackDaniel Pollack is an internationally renowned American pianist recognized for his signature colors in sound and over-the-edge thrilling virtuosity...
, Pianist - BeethovenLudwig van BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
, Piano Concerto No. 5
Chester B. Swiatkowski, Pianist
- LOVE THEME - THE COMPETITION
(People Alone)
Music by Lalo SchifrinLalo SchifrinLalo Schifrin is an Argentine composer, pianist and conductor. He is best known for his film and TV scores, such as the "Theme from Mission: Impossible". He has received four Grammy Awards and six Oscar nominations...
Lyrics by Wilbur JenningsWill JenningsWilbur H. "Will" Jennings is an American songwriter who is popularly known for writing the lyrics for "My Heart Will Go On", the theme for the film Titanic .-Life and education:...
Song by Randy CrawfordRandy CrawfordRandy Crawford is an American jazz and R&B singer. She has been more successful in Europe than in the United States, where she has not entered the Billboard Hot 100 as a solo artist...
1981 Academy AwardsAcademy AwardsAn Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
- Nominated: Best Film Editing - David E. Blewitt
- Nominated: Best Music, Original Song: "People Alone"
(Music by Lalo SchifrinLalo SchifrinLalo Schifrin is an Argentine composer, pianist and conductor. He is best known for his film and TV scores, such as the "Theme from Mission: Impossible". He has received four Grammy Awards and six Oscar nominations...
, Lyrics by Will JenningsWill JenningsWilbur H. "Will" Jennings is an American songwriter who is popularly known for writing the lyrics for "My Heart Will Go On", the theme for the film Titanic .-Life and education:...
)
1981 Golden Globe Awards
- Nominated, Best Original Score - Motion Picture - Lalo SchifrinLalo SchifrinLalo Schifrin is an Argentine composer, pianist and conductor. He is best known for his film and TV scores, such as the "Theme from Mission: Impossible". He has received four Grammy Awards and six Oscar nominations...
1st Golden Raspberry Award
- Nominated: Worst Actor (Richard DreyfussRichard DreyfussRichard Stephen Dreyfuss is an American actor best known for starring in a number of film, television, and theater roles since the late 1960s, including the films American Graffiti, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Goodbye Girl, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Stakeout, Always, What About...
)