Title:
Les Choristes (The Chorus)
Year: 2004
Genre: Drama, Musical
Director: Christophe Barratier
Writer:
Georges Chaperot and René Wheeler (1945 story "La Cage aux
rossignols"), René Wheeler and Noël-Noël (1945 screenplay "La Cage
aux rossignols"), Christophe Barratier (screen story), Christophe Barratier
y Philippe Lopes-Curval (screenplay)
Runtime:
97min
Cast:
Gérard Jugnot, Jean-Baptiste Maunier, Maxence Perrin, François Berleand, Marie
Bunel, Grégory Gatignol, Kad Merad
Produc.: Vega Film, Banque Populaire Images 4, CP
Medien AG, Canal+, Centre National de la Cinematographie (CNC), Dan Valley Film
AG, France 2 Cinéma, Galatée Films, Novo Arturo Films, Pathé Renn, Productions,
Procirep
Budget: €5.500.000 million approx.
In
The Chorus, Pierre Morhange (Jacques Perrin) is a French conductor, who is in
New York, when he has to go back home, due to his mother´s death. After the
funeral he meets with Pépinot (Didier Flamand), a boarding school classmate,
and with whom he will recall those times when their lives were touched by the
wonderful Clément Mathieu (Gérard Jugnot).
Someone knocks on the door. Pierre opens to a
person that he does not recognize. His visitor, however, seems quite sure, that
this is not true. To Pierre´s surprise, it is Pépinot. The thing is, it has
been fifty years, since they last saw each other.
Pierre invites Pépinot to pass, at which point
they begin to talk about when they were pupils. Pierre is particularly
interested in knowing what happened to Mathieu, whose diary he has never heard
of, and which Pépinot himself, discloses to him now.
This is the film´s prologue, where their
experiences in Fond de L'Etang (Bottom of the Pond) are told to us through
this diary.
It all goes back to a Saturday in 1945, when
Mathieu arrives at the boarding gates. There he meets a very still and quiet
child, who, behind the gate, seems to be waiting for something to happen. Later
on, Mathieu will find out that the child is Pépinot. An orphan who, every
Saturday waits for the arrival of a father, he refuses to accept, has already
died.
Mathieu presents himself as the new caretaker,
to a staff that does not bother to give him a warm welcome, or speak well of
the pupils. Quite the contrary, they only know to describe him unruly boys,
who have no respect for the adults.
One as a spectator, even without having seen
anything yet, should already be getting an idea, of how things are really.
Childhood is the stage where we need, more than ever, to be understood and
heard, and attention and understanding are something that these children do not
know. It happens that Rachin (Francois Berleand), the boarding school’s
director, is a jerk, an egomaniac, and a complete grumpy. Personal issues have
led him to vent his anger on those who do not deserve it, and to abide by a ruthless
code of: "action - reaction", where any misconduct is severely
punished. Rachin and his minions seem to be always eager to indiscipline, as if
the confinement in the "dungeon" was the greatest of their pleasures.
They are very good, penalizing mistakes, and very bad, rewarding their few
successes.
Mathieu begins to fulfill his functions, to
what he immediately discovers that what he had been told before was not a lie.
In there, there are problems indeed. Despite this, he has trouble getting used
to that "action - reaction" thing, and neither he likes the children
to be locked up. But then, of course....,
Mathieu, unlike the mentally incapable of Rachin, him, with or without
problems, does have patience and listening skills. Both essential, if something
good wants to be obtained from these children. Then, he comes up with an idea,
and he intends to replace punishment with music. Basically, he wants to make the
children realize that yes, they are worth it, and that yes, they count for
something.
The new caretaker comments to Rachin his intention
to form a choir, as it is not a matter of, coming one day and start doing
whatever he pleases. The director, bitter, as usual, never smiles or encourages
him, for his idea. He merely shows his disdain, and warns him of what could
happen if things went out of control.
Soon, Mathieu has had the children
tested, has separated them by the type of voices, and has formed a choir. Soon,
too, certain incidents lead Rachin to forbid him to carry on with his
experiment. This is when things get even more interesting, because Mathieu
disobeys, and practices, then, on the sly.
From now on, whenever the children sing, it
will be a magical moment of pure beauty, and where Rachin will have momentarily
become something distant and harmless. Mathieu also establishes, throughout the
film, a very special bond with two of his students, Pépinot and Morhange. These
are those, who tell us the story, from the beginning.
Once, I read a famous line from Alfred
Hitchcock´s, in which he said: "Never work with children, animals or
Charles Laughton." The truth is, I have no details on Laughton, but I do
know of the nerves he suffered, when filming with kids and dogs. Something tells
me that this English man must have been a director of little patience. Because
after enjoying the choir of pupils from Christophe Barratier, it is difficult
to think that these children could be so rowdy.
The actor’s direction here is superb. So is the
way the kids get into their characters. This makes me think that, unless those
children were then, dubbed by other chorus, Jean-Baptiste Maunier and his
companions must have loved those moments, where the director said action, so
that they could have fun with their voices.
In The Chorus, each scene has these child
actors, who, far from being of stone, one can understand their feelings,
either, they suffer or they laugh. One can see how Mathieu goes from being a
teacher, not only to become a choir director, but also a therapist. Because
sometimes, it is not a master's degree in psychology what is needed to help,
but to know to listen to the other and to be able to feel compassion.
My rating: 8/10
