A divertimento is a light piece of music, written just to amuse. But it’s a slightly incongruous title for Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar’s portrait of the conductor and composer Zahia Ziouani, because the film tackles some pretty heavy themes.
To use a current term, this is an “origin story”; telling how a teenage Ziouani went from the suburbs of Paris to become an acclaimed musician with her own orchestra (the Orchestre Divertimento, which is still going today). It delves into the tense intersection between tradition and talent in classical music, as well as France’s often-difficult relationship with migrants from its former colonies.
The film is quite contained, basically spanning the French school year of 1994 – 95. Zahia Ziouani (Oulaya Amamra) and her sister Fettouma (Lina El Arabi) have been accepted into the prestigious Lycée Racine music school in Paris. Fettouma is a talented cellist, and while Zahia plays several instruments, she really wants to be a conductor. She has already been encouraging young local musicians in the Stains neighbourhood in Paris’ northern suburbs. But the shift from the working-class suburbs to the elite city school produces a culture shock. Zahia and Fettouma are from an Algerian family, and they soon discover they’re the only non-white students in their class. Many of the other students come from the families of prominent French musicians, and generally coast along on their names.
In the classroom, Zahia in particular experiences oblique discrimination. No one is straight-out racist, but the class soon makes it clear they prefer the privileged Lambert Lallemand (Louis-Damien Kapfer) over Zahia in conducting exercises. Zahia turns to one of her heroes, the ageing conductor Sergiu Celibidache (Niels Arestrup) who is now a teacher at Lycée Racine. He has a definite set against women conductors, but Zahia’s talent and persistence eventually convince him to give her a place in his private conducting tutorials. That, however, is only the beginning of her challenges.
Given the subject matter, Divertimento invites immediate comparisons to Todd Field’s Tár. This is almost the polar opposite of that film though. Where Tár was about a woman conductor brought down by her own hubris, Divertimento is about an aspiring woman conductor overcoming her hubris to achieve her goals. And it has to be said Divertimento is far less dark than Tár. You might also be tempted to reference Bradley Cooper’s Maestro. But Maestro was really all about relationships, whereas here the music is far more important.
Speaking of music, the film provides basically a greatest-hits playlist of classical music. This is completely understandable in the context of a music school, though not particularly daring for the movie. The final sequence is oddly-staged (I doubt it really could have happened as Mention-Schaar presents it) but also strangely affecting. I could feel how the film was manipulating me, but at the same time, it was so effective I just went with it.
Mention-Schaar co-wrote the screenplay with Clara Bourreau. They’ve clearly taken some liberties with the true story, but it generally works. They don’t shy away from some of the uglier elements of the plot; and in the third act, introduce some surprising complexity where others might have gone for the easy option. Naomi Amarger delivers some beautiful cinematography, making the most of the Paris locations.
In the lead role, Oulaya Amamra delivers a convincing performance as Zahia. At times though, she’s overshadowed by two very strong performances from Lina El Arabi as Fettouma and Niels Arestrup (A Prophet) as Celibidache. The remaining cast are somewhat sidelined, though Zinedine Soualem has a stand-out scene as Zahia and Fettouma’s father.
I was impressed with Divertimento, even if its seams were showing at times. In the end, this is an uplifting story of resilience. It advances the possibly unpopular notion that talent alone isn’t enough for success; perseverance plays a big part. If you embrace that idea, it delivers a lot to enjoy.
David Edwards
Other reviews you might enjoy:
- Alliance Française French Film Festival 2024 – a preview
- School Life – movie review
- The President’s Wife – movie review
David Edwards is the editor of The Blurb and a contributor on film and television
