Moviemakers use all manner of strategies to have their actors look convincing as classical musicians. Some will coach or drill their casts to the point where they pass muster (Geoffrey Rush in Shine, for example). Others rely on cutaways to real virtuosos’ hands. Some go to more extreme lengths as in the 1946 film Humoresque when star John Garfield had two real violinists hidden behind him during playing scenes – one with his arm in Garfield’s tuxedo to do the left-hand fingering, while another did the bowing. The end result looked entirely awkward, as you can imagine.

From left: Mathieu Spinosi, Emma Ravier, Marie Vialle and Daniel Garlitsky: The Musicians

The Musicians by director and screenwriter Grégory Magne takes a different approach. In the film, which is performed in French with English surtitles, he draws on the talents of four expert chamber musician-actors to tell the story of a superstar string quartet thrown together for a once-in-a-lifetime concert.

Astrid Thompson (Valérie Donzelli) has gathered the quartet in honour of her late father, an industrialist whose passion was music. His one unrealised ambition was to...