Those who loves the violin will enjoy _The Audition_, about a music teacher Anna (Nina Hoss) coaching a 15-year prodigy Alexander (Ilja Monti, a real life violinist) for an important audition over a 6-month sprint

All cinematic violinists are intensely private and neurotic, they tend to express themselves solely through their instruments (see also _Un Coeur en Hiver_, _Alice and Martin_, Mademoiselle Chambon_ ...). In contrast, cellists are invariably big-hearted and expressive, usually end up having affairs with the conductor and getting murdered ...

It is interesting to ask whether _The Audition_ adds to or subverts the stereotype. Sure, Anna is troubled. Anxiety attacks have largely prevented her from performing, and in an early scene she spends 5 minutes not deciding what to order at a restaurant as her accommodating husband Philippe (Simon Abkarian) looks on. She insists on taking Alexander because he plays with a unique voice, and one suspects, because he reminds her of herself in her youth. A hundred times more introverted and awkward than she is, they bond after a fashion; he even visits her house to catch on with practice to the intense annoyance of her family. Then the pressure, and her intense teaching style, get to him, and he pulls away. After a tragedy, with his mother in tears wishing Alexander can move again, Anna disengage emotionally, and can only suggest he needs to practice again soon ...

Nevertheless, both violinists are somewhat functional human beings. It is the people around her (especially Anna's family members) which are truly maladjusted. Philippe is a failed musician who has turned to making and repairing string instruments (metaphor for repairing his own soul, and a reference to Daniel Auteuil's luthier/angel of death in _Un Coeur en Hiver_). He is cold and unsupportive; on the eve of the big audition, all he can think about is that he calls her five times and does not get an answer. (Anna love to cook but they end up having cold cheese sandwich for dinner.) He must have driven her to an affair with another cellist. Their son Jonas turns out to be a real sociopath -- perhaps he takes after his grandfather, who is quite a specimen in his own right?

It is truly fascinating to see that the critics blame all this on Anna, and on classical music. She pushes Alexander to practice 4 hours a day and has a tense session with him over the interpretation of a Bach passage -- that must destroy the 15-year old! She seemingly neglects Jonas (but still goes to his hockey practice) -- that must have caused him to maim his rival for her affection! The husband sits stone-faced through her quintet performance and yells at her afterwards; surely that is all her fault? If she were a professional athletic or coach on the eve of a big game, the judgement on her would have been completely different. Christian Press, the USWNT soccer star, is incredibly warm, sweet, and empathetic. Yet she is famous for her neurotic pre-game rituals. If you interrupt her routine, I would hate to be in your shoes. If you are a detective on TV ("Monk," "The Closer"), OCD is perfectly endearing. But in our popular culture, classical music signifies oppression and trained musician are either monsters (_Tar_) or freaks (_The Piano Teacher_). (Unless you are a regular American celebrity who just happens to be a musician, like in _Maestro_; *then* it is OK.) I wonder if the very odd screenplay of _The Audition_ is meant to hold a mirror to exactly the reviews the film has receive, to subvert our prevailing narrative about classical music.

The main reason to watch _The Audition_ is of course Nina Hoss. Her intelligent, darting eye movement, framed by the most dramatic eye-brow in the world, makes every pause, every low-key reaction of hers profound and heart-breaking. Hoss raises her voice once in the film and cries a couple times, but it is as though she has put you through the emotional wringer of a dozen intense dramas. This is not Hoss at her best (see _Return o Montauk_), but it is plenty good and riveting enough.

Excellent performance by the main actress who portrays a woman that is caught between her unfulfilled desires, a very strict upbringing and crooked morals. Great story about how all of this makes her relationships (husband, son) and her music student suffer. Underscored with wonderful music.