A variation on the theme of inspiring teacher

Rating: 8/10 (6 August 2007)

Not as common as underdog sports teams overcoming obstacles to achieve success, stories of teachers bucking the odds to great positive effect seem to be perennial favorites. This film about a recently-hired school supervisor, Clément Mathieu, at a French reform school for boys in 1949 is one more entry in the exceptional teacher genre. For many of us the appeal of these films is that we have had such a teacher in our lives.
The school, named Fond de l'Etang (literally "bottom of the pond"), houses an impressive collection of rowdy boys, some orphaned or otherwise scarred by the war. The headmaster is a harsh disciplinarian whereas Clémeant is more gentle and reasoned in his approach. About all you need to know about the story is that, in this particular case, the inspiring teacher accomplishes his noteworthy achievements by way of forming a choir.
Not all is sweetness as there is one rather incorrigible boy, Mondain (Grégory Gatignol, who establishes a truly scary presence) introduced into the mix. It is interesting to compare this movie with "Blackboard Jungle" where Glenn Ford faces a somewhat similar situation. The gritty realism of "Blackboard Jungle" is in stark contrast to what we see in "Les Choristes," leaving one to puzzle about how a Hollywood film from 1955 has more depth than a French film from 2004.
Jacques Perrin adds some nice touches in his brief appearances - he does a particularly fine job as an orchestra conductor in an early scene. After Clément whips the choir into shape they perform some stunningly beautiful pieces. Maybe they are unbelievably good, but that does not detract from being able to enjoy their performances. I replayed the last ten minutes of the movie several times just to listen to the chorus.
This is a sentimental and predictable film, but nicely done.