151. The Audition (Das Vorspiel); movie review

 

THE AUDITION (DAS VORSPIEL)

Cert 15

99 mins

BBFC advice: Contains infrequent strong nudity, domestic abuse

"If music be the food of love, play on," wrote William Shakespeare in Twelfth Night.

He clearly hadn't in mind characters such as those in Ina Weisse's The Audition.

Music is front and centre of all that they do but love is distinctly lacking on all fronts.

The movie's focus is Anna Bronsky (Nina Hoss), a high-level violin teacher with baggage at home, work and even on stage.

She pits her judgment against her colleagues when she votes that a young violinist (Ilja Monti) should be given her expert coaching.

She becomes rather obsessed with the boy either because she is trying to prove herself as a teacher or their sessions offer her relief from a highly pressured home life.

It is unclear why she has such a testy time with her husband (Simon Abkarian) and especially her young son (Serafin Mishiev).

There is a hint that her own childhood and particularly her relationship with her disciplinarian father (Thomas Thieme) might be behind her issues.

But The Audition is a slow grind with little happening until a shocking and momentous finale.

I suspect Weisse's film may well chime with those from musical families, either teachers, players or even those who make instruments.

Sadly, Mrs W and I have failed in that regard and I gave up incompetent trumpet playing when I was just 15.

Thus, because it doesn't have the save drive as Whiplash, The Audition didn't manage to satisfy us.

Reasons to watch: Some fine music

Reasons to avoid: Much too slow

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: Yes

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 5/10

Did you know? The average violinist salary is $64,335 per year or $30.93 per hour in the United States. The bottom 10% make roughly $28,000 a year while the top 10% make $146,000. 

The final word. Ina Weisse: "Many story threads came together, with the central one becoming that of a woman trying to find her place in the world. And then, like an onion, we pulled back layer after layer and it became clear that she was a musician, that she had family, that she had a student, and so on." Hammer To Nail

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