what = message ?

That love is difficult and dreams are hard to follow.

"They shoot horses, don't they?" RIP Sydney Pollack

WHY must a film have a message?


What's Monalisa message?
What's In search of lost time message?
What's Beethoven's ninth symphony message?

couldn't a work of art stand alone whitout having a message?

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The dichotomy in this film is between the animalistic selfish side (sex, violence, greed) that governs Thomas actions in the beginning, and the Human compassionate side (empathy, love) he acquires throughout the film. It shows the process Thomas goes through to get from one side to the other. The emotional live music is the vehicle that allows the transformation to happen, as opposed to the techno he listens to on his earphones to block the world and his emotions.
it's also about the transformation from child to man that occurs when a dominant parent loses his authority through deterioration and death - it shows that one has to take responsibility for one's life and others.
other films by Audiard also refer to this sort of transformation, most notably Rust and Bone.

I felt that at least one "message" (not the only one, though) was that sometimes a person can fulfill a unrealistic dream in an oblique and unforeseeable way.

So, true enough: Thomas couldn't become a concert pianist so late in life after neglecting the demands of music for so many years.

Which is why he can't even formulate what his goal is when trying to explain why he's seeking lessons.

Any yet--in the end he does find a new, very meaningful, involvement in concert music when he becomes partner to the woman he met in trying to pursue his dream.

Which is an example of how the yearning behind an "unrealistic" dream can end up being surprisingly fulfilled.

I thought that was the most satisfying message of the film.