The Competition (1980)

The movie centers on a piano competition whose winner is assured of success. It is Paul's last chance to compete, but newcomer Heidi may be a better pianist. Can romance be far away? Will ... See full summary »

Director:

Joel Oliansky

Writers:

Joel Oliansky (story), William Sackheim (story),

Stars:

Richard Dreyfuss, Amy Irving, Lee Remick

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Dreyfuss	...	Paul Dietrich
Amy Irving	...	Heidi Joan Schoonover
Lee Remick	...	Greta Vandemann
Sam Wanamaker	...	Andrew Erskine
Joseph Cali	...	Jerry DiSalvo
Ty Henderson	...	Michael Humphries
Vicki Kriegler	...	Tatjana Baronova
Adam Stern	...	Mark Landau
Philip Sterling	...	Mr. Dietrich
Gloria Stroock	...	Mrs. Dietrich
Bea Silvern	...	Madame Gorshev
James Sikking	...	Brudenell (as James B. Sikking)
Delia Salvi	...	Mrs. DiSalvo
Jimmy Sturtevant	...	Vinnie DiSalvo
Kathy Talbot	...	Denise DiSalvo

Storyline

The movie centers on a piano competition whose winner is assured of success. It is Paul's last chance to compete, but newcomer Heidi may be a better pianist. Can romance be far away? Will she take a dive despite the pressure to win from her teacher, Greta, or will she condemn Paul to obscurity?

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Plot Keywords:

piano | bare chested male | love affair | anger | male nudity | 

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Taglines:

If you're really in love... nothing's going to stand in your way.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Music

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 December 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

La competición

Filming Locations:

California Academy of Sciences, Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Rastar Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Original piano music was written for the film by contemporary composer Lalo Schifrin.

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Goofs

The piano fingering is often out of sync with the music, especially during Heidi's performance of Prokofiev's 3rd.

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Quotes

Greta Vandemann: What can you play on 24 hours notice if Serkin or Gilels cancels?
Heidi Joan Schoonover: Serkin Gilels 24-Hour Cancellation Blues.

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Connections

Referenced in Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (2004)

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Soundtracks

"Piano Concerto, No. 1"
Composed by Johannes Brahms (as Brahms)
Performed by Ralph Grierson, piano

User Reviews

A flawed movie with moments of greatness

First the flaws: the extraneous characters of the various competitors are pretty blatant stereotypes, not offensive, but not particularly compelling either. The time spent on them would have been better spent on further development of the relationship between Paul (Richard Dreyfuss) and Heidi (Amy Irving) two pianists facing off in the same competition who fall in love while preparing for it. Secondly, the "contemporary" music...it was released in 1980, but all you hear in bars and at parties is disco music. It makes everything seem a little too quaint and cute to be real.

Moments of greatness: The clashes and arguments that ensue between Paul and Heidi make it obvious why they fall in love, but it happens very quickly. Which is fine in a standard romance, but that isn't what this movie is. These two people are complex individuals with various insecurities and desires that make the love story so great, so interesting and so real. But the ending feels strange...a lot happens before the film's resolution, and leaves me feeling that the characters haven't been explored enough. The movie's shining moment is during the second half of the competition, when Paul has already played and Heidi proceeds to blow him out of the water. Irving's performance onstage is totally convincing, and Dreyfuss conveys an incredible amount of emotion and intelligence simply in his reactions to the piece.

The tension here is incredible, and very, very real. A good movie--one that dares to show its characters in an unglamorous, real way few movies have