Considered the greatest conductor of the 80's, during Brejnev's rule, Andrei Filipov was shamefully cast aside for supporting Jewish musicians, defying orders from the Soviet regime. 30 years later, Filipov still works at Moscow's largest theater, the Bolchoi, but as a cleaner, and is profoundly affected by the degradation of the orchestra's performing level. One night, after an umpteenth rebuttal from the administrator from whom he was requesting his old position back, Filipov discovers a fax sent by the famous Parisian Chatelet Theater's manager, inviting the Bolchoi to play in Paris two weeks later. The old conductor has a ludicrous idea: with his wife's help, he hopes to bring his old musician friends together to travel to Paris and pose as the prestigious orchestra. Four years after his heart-wrenching "Live and Become", Jewish-Romanian-born French director Radu Mihaileanu further develops a theme which seems dear to him - positive imposture - and weaves an dashing drama, between tears and laughter, confronting the contradictions of modern Russia to the discreet Western world of classical music.