Uplifting! Puts a smile on your face! A wondrous breath of fresh air

Rating: 9/10 (24 November 2005)

THE CHORUS (Les Choristes) (Christophe Barratier, France/Switzerland/Germany, 2004, 96 min.). Brilliantly crafted, absorbing tale of the transformative power of choral music and a resourceful teacher to achieve civility within the confines of a dreadful state lockup school for deviant and unwanted boys.
The story is told in a long flashback, when a reunion occurs between two men who were in the school together a half century earlier. As their story is recounted, we first meet Clement Mathieu (Gerard Jugnot), a short, balding, failed musician who in middle age has no other prospects than to take a job as supervisor in the prison-like school, run by a sadistic martinet, Rachin (Francois Berleand), who treats his faculty as viciously as the students.
The ensuing plot conceit is a familiar one: the steadfast Mathieu gradually wins over the insolent, anarchical kids through music and kindness, as he introduces a choir program to brighten the otherwise dull, steady diet of the three "R's" and the punishments meted out by Rachin.
This little gem has been a surprise hit, wildly popular both in France and internationally. The choral numbers are sublime, performed by an established French boys' choir, whose soprano soloist, Jean-Baptiste Maunier, sings flawlessly and acts the role of young Pierre Morhange, a central figure among the youths here.
The film is a remake of a 1945 movie, "La Cage aux rossignols"  "A Cage of Nightingales." First time writer-director Christophe Barratier was himself a musician: beginning musical studies at age 7, he also sang in a boys' choir, and later studied at the Paris Conservatory. He is the nephew of Jacques Perrin, the well-known actor and film producer ("Microcosmos," "Himalaya," "Winged Migration"), who here plays the adult Pierre Morhange, now an internationally known conductor, one of the two men who meet at the start of this film to reflect on their experiences long ago.
The story is not far fetched. I have personally known of situations in which participation in choral music turned around the lives of troubled teenagers. Amid so many films reflecting indifference, destitution and violence in our world, this one comes to us like a wondrous breath of fresh air. (In French). My rating: 8.5/10 (A-) (Seen on 04/16/05). If you'd like to read more of my reviews, send me a message for directions to my websites.