It is probably unlikely that this film will ever rise out of the morass of B-movies from the 1990's and become recognised as a significant work. Too many viewers have been too disappointed by its leisurely pace, and by the quality of the acting and dancing. Nevertheless it had an unusually complex story line which was significant at multiple levels and left viewers with plenty to think about. I would class this film as worthwhile erotica, despite the limited ballet skills exhibited; and in my opinion the five existing IMDb comments on this film do not do it justice. They all appear to have been contributed by men, and I wish there were also a few comments from women, these might differ in some interesting ways.
The film is intended as erotica, not soft porn, and reviewers must recognise this. With most true erotica there is at least one underlying story line that is not portrayed explicitly but gradually becomes evident from small clues which are provided by the film-maker as the main story unfolds. For a successful erotic work, such subsidiary stor(ies) must be meaningful enough at the personal level to make viewers glad they watched the film. This will clearly be a very individual assessment, and even the best erotic films inherently only appeal to a proportion of their viewers. Nevertheless there has been so much high quality erotica released during the past decade that those who appreciate this genre can usually find a really good production they will enjoy, and avoid wasting their time watching films - however significant - where the photography or acting is seriously below par, or the story is too complex to easily follow. Unfortunately well made films which do not appeal to particular reviewers are often condemned as of 'unacceptable' quality, even if this is comparable with that of most other films. Conversely when the story in such a film has a very strong appeal to a particular reviewer, major faults in quality are often overlooked. In the case of Lovers' Concerto it appear to me that the former situation has seriously distorted the impression of this film which is given by the few existing comments.
The makers of this film wanted to bring out the problems faced by individuals who have a strong sex drive but are introverts with introspective characters who go through life primarily as loners, largely living vicariously through watching the less inhibited behaviour of their friends and colleagues, and generally most content when working in a lead role as part of a small team. This is the situation of Katya, the ballerina in this film, (Shelley Michelle), her role depends upon the few instrumentalists who are supporting her while she dances, and although she afterwards mixes with them socially she spends her time watching from a distance as they bond together in various ways in which she finds she cannot join (but which provide several sex scenes that seem to have monopolised the attention of some reviewers). The climax of the film shows her watching her friends indulging in love-making from behind a curtain, when one of the men comes upon her unexpectedly from behind and, after caressing her, slips off her gown. As I understood the story, this incident occurred at the psychologically correct moment when she was so lonely that she did not run away. There are also several other threads to this story, for example a major one relates to unrealistic career assessments or expectations. Many viewers may need to watch the film more than once before fully appreciating them all, but the point I am making is simply that the concealed story line is the heart and soul of an erotic film. Reviewers comments; whether on costumes, dialogue, acting, dancing, photography or anything else; need to be made in the context of how they contribute to, or spoil, the telling of this concealed story. Unfortunately the comments made on this film mostly treat it as simply a skinflick - even to the point of listing how, how often, and in what ways the skin is being displayed. One user from Houston has commented that he enjoyed the nude ballet without making any comment on the pathos of the dancer's implicit message "I am here all alone with nothing to hide and I desperately need a friend who will accept me just as I am". The acting was not that bad - perhaps women viewers would be more responsive to these aspects of this story, and I would like to see some of their comments on it.
Many of us recognise that our actions may often have been too introspective for our own good, and for me the hidden threads in this story were sufficiently absorbing to enable me to accept any limitations in acting and dancing without experiencing undue irritation. My wife, who is certainly not an introvert, also enjoyed it. Tom Keogh reviewing ' Of Human Bondage' for Amazon, noted that the character of an introvert is tricky to portray in any medium but particularly so on film. This left me thinking how few such portrayals in the 60 years following OHB (1934) come readily to mind. True Shelley Michelle did not give a great performance in this film, but it was nevertheless one of only a few during this entire period that I would be prepared to re-watch. Few top stars or prima ballerinas would have rushed to accept this part, even if it had been offered to them, but SM provided an acceptable substitute who was able to convey the message of the film to us adequately. Surely there were other viewers who reacted the same way? Let IMDb hear from you!