In many ways growth is acknowledging both the fear of failure and the acceptance of it. We spend our youth battling the anxiety that is the unknown, and yet there is comfort in letting go of what we can’t control. Perhaps the most rigorous setting to face these absolute truths is the International Chopin Competition, wherein a handful of young pianists compete for one of the most prestigious titles in the music world. Jakub Piatek’s Pianoforte brings forward the anxieties and aspirations of these young competitors.
Since 1927, the Chopin Competition has become the birthplace for the most renowned pianists in the world. Piatek’s documentary showcases the talented group of teens and young adults who competed in 2021. While under a strict set of guidelines and criteria spanning the 21 days of the competition, Piatek aims to reveal the adolescence and humanity of these young musicians that is not accounted for on stage. Each aspect of their performance must be perfectly calculated and each movement is deliberate down to the placement of their forearms or a tilt of their head. Eva Gevorgyan, a 17-year-old from Russia listens as her coach gives notes on maintaining restraint, keeping her head still while playing. She also keeps a small pig figurine on the frame of the piano for comfort. Each contestant manages their technique while also finding external ways of grounding themselves in any way they can – if this is even possible.
Once the competition enters its second phase, feelings of self-doubt begin to create a heaviness in the anxiety already present in the first phase. Marcin Wieczorek, a Polish contestant, revels in this fear and eventually resigns from the competition. It’s in this phase where there is a trend of noticeable self-critique that begins to spread to other competitors as well. The varying ranges of self-critique in each of them paint a picture of the threshold for the intensity of the competition itself, but this feeling also has a lot to do with their support systems. Whether these kids have received a nurturing approach to mastering an art form, or have grown up with a tougher approach reveals how they are able to cope with what is considered failure.
Michelle, a pianist from Italy, compares the feelings leading up to the judges’ assessment to the five stages of grief. In order to prepare herself for the blow of not continuing to the finals, she grieves her time as a contestant in preparation for the anticipation of their decision. This, as she explains, is due to her maintaining honesty with herself. Michelle might not have been a finalist, but she represents the emotional maturity that many of her fellow musicians must learn in order to disallow fear of failure from consuming them.
As the finalists are awarded, there is a sense of relief for some, and yet for others this loss is a dent in their self-confidence. But this seems to be exactly what the film hopes to achieve – that coping with failure is part of being human, and is certainly more intense when you are still going through the motions of growing into young adulthood. By the time names are announced, we have not forgotten that behind each of them is someone who is scared, yet driven by possibility. In competition, only precision matters, but backstage focus on the internal, where failure is grieved, and most importantly, anxiety is overcome.
Photo courtesy of Greenwich Entertainment
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