They broke the cardinal rule of the competition...they fell in love.

He has been working for this moment his entire life. This is his last chance. For her, this could be the beginning. And it would be the perfect love story if it weren't for...
If you're really in love... nothing's going to stand in your way.
They shouldn't like each other. Instead, they fall in love.


Can two prodigies fall in love and stay in love, even when they are competing against one another in an international piano competition? Richard Dreyfuss and Amy Irving attempt to answer that question in The Competition. Richard Dreyfuss plays Paul Dietrich, a shabby prodigy slouching past the thirty year mark. Embittered at never having won an international competition and being pushed and prodded by his parents, Paul decides to enter one last time and, if he fails, he will devote himself to teaching. Since this is his last chance, he throws himself into the competition with an energy and determination comparable to Duddy Kravitz. During preparations for the competition he meets Heidi (Amy Irving), a natural talent who is does not have Paul's drive to succeed. Heidi takes one look at Paul and immediately falls in love with him. Paul feels an attraction for her but holds his feelings in check, trying to center himself on winning the competition. Looking at the burgeoning love affair with dread is Heidi's possessive music teacher Greta Vandemann (Lee Remick), who sees Heidi's relationship with Paul as compromising her talent and jeopardizing her standing in the competition.

Paul Dietrich is an extremely gifted but disillusioned classical pianist, running out of time to prove himself. He logically believes that the time has come to give up performing in piano competitions and accept a salaried position as a music teacher at a school.

Against his better judgment, Paul decides to travel to San Francisco for an international piano competition. It could cost him the job back home in Chicago, where his father is seriously ill, but he wants one last stab at success.

The competition for a financial grant and performing engagements with famed conductor Andrew Erskine pits the intense and arrogant Paul against a select group of talented artists. He advances to the final cut of six, which includes a brash New Yorker named Jerry DiSalvo who knows how to play only one concerto, a sophisticated world traveler named Michael Humphries who likes to rehearse in the nude, a Canadian pianist named Mark Landau who's note-perfect but emotionally moribund, and a meek Russian girl named Tatjana Baronova whose teacher disrupts the contest by seeking political asylum in the United States.

Another contestant is Heidi Joan Schoonover, a wealthy young American who has felt a romantic inclination toward Paul ever since meeting him briefly at a music festival. Heidi is scolded by her esteemed music teacher, Greta Vandemann, not to let personal matters interfere with her concentration. And she is rebuffed rudely by Paul, who also doesn't care to be distracted.

Troubled by his situation, however, Paul goes to Heidi and asks if they can talk. In spite of the disapproving Greta, they go on a date, during which Paul pours out his heart about his family's circumstances. She reassures him. The two end up making love in Paul's hotel room. Just before the competition, she realizes how much winning means to Paul and tries to drop out. Greta angrily tells off Paul, blaming him for hurting Heidi's chances by making her feel guilty for competing against him.

Paul persuades Heidi to return to the competition. It begins and everyone is excellent. But partway through her performance, a string breaks on Heidi's piano and she is forced to stop. Rather than fold under pressure, Heidi angrily demands a new concerto and performs it with magnificence. She is voted the winner, with Paul finishing in second place.

Heidi is happy because she and Paul have agreed to form a partnership, combining their talents and resources no matter which of them wins. But to her surprise, Paul is disturbed by the fact that she gave such an excellent performance, and leaves.

However, at a victory party following the performance, he eventually comes to his senses and returns to be a part of her victory celebration.

Release Date: December 8, 1980

Distrib: Columbia Pictures


Boxoffice: $14,287,755 2014: $42,279,000