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Chorus, The (2004)
Director:
Christophe Barratier
Stars: Gérard Jugnot, Jean-Baptiste Maunier
Release Company:
Pathe Distribution
MPAA Rating: NR
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Since The Chorus (Les Choristes) was selected as France's entry for Best Foreign Language Film and nominated for an Academy Award, I anticipated a full course French dinner only to be served croissant and cafe Americano. Crowd pleasing enjoyable enough fare for breakfast, but hardly memorable. Set in a post war French boarding school for delinquent and orphaned kids, the film plays out its feel good formula like so many films we've seen before—a combination Dead Poet's Society meets Mr. Holland's Opus with a saccharine spoonful of Sound of Music. As a former teacher, I can appreciate the sentiments about how a teacher can have a life changing impact on a student, but just once I'd love to see a film that actually gets inside its characters and shows how this works instead of relying on the tired old stereotypes that this lazy screenplay uses. Using a similar theme, even Richard Linklater's flawed School of Rock effectively creates more memorable and believable characters.
The Chorus is sweet with its heart appropriately placed on the side of goodness and cute kids, so it's not difficult to see why audiences respond positively. Preceding its American theatrical release, the soundtrack has found its way into radio air play so the musical theme already sounds pleasantly familiar. But to think that this formulaic film deserves to stand alongside the best foreign films is ludicrous—disappointing that the French would bow to commercial success in lieu of creative artistry.
Gérard Jugnot heroically carries the film as kind-hearted Mr. Mathieu, a "failed" musical composer hired as an educational supervisor to a brutal militaristic reformatory, whose ridiculous philosophy rests on the principles of "action-reaction," meaning that every misbehavior is immediately countered with punishment. Such a school needs a stock villain to head it, so we have François Berléand taking on the role of Principal Rachin, who continually shouts "Silence!" and locks up miscreants in isolation. Naturally our good Mr. Mathieu serves as rebel counter force, subverting the school rules, and he does so with remarkable humorous flair—often silently signaling his student charges out of sight from the headmaster or covering their misdeeds with white lies.
The students are a motley crew with only three standing out—little orphaned Pépinot (Maxence Perrin),who fruitlessly waits at the gate for his deceased parents every Saturday; shy Pierre (Jean-Baptiste Maunier),acknowledged leader and most gifted; and Mondain (Grégory Gatignol), who is a true pervert and a threat to all the good that Mr. Mathieu valiantly strives for. After establishing himself as fellow rebel against unsensible school rules, Mr. Mathieu discovers that the boys can sing, so he soon auditions them to separate them into sopranos, altos, baritones, or as a musical stand or chorus manager. Just as certain (especially considering the opening scene), one boy emerges with remarkable talent. Music is Pierre's true calling—his angelic voice reaches to the heavens itself and likewise grabs our hearts.
We're allowed to speculate whether Mr. Mathieu really reaches Pierre and significantly changes his life or whether this latent talent inevitably would surface, leaving Mr. Mathieu to musical mediocrity and to the realms of the forgotten, much as the dance teacher muses in Billy Elliott. There's another plot twist that warms the heart, but isn't likely to make much of an impact. It's one of those things that screenwriters easily toss into the mix without having to work at developing its layers.
And that's what's lacking in this feel good tale. I can only slightly recommend this for lightweight entertainment and to make you feel good about humanity for a short spell. Just don't expect the feeling to last long since The Chorus fails to develop its stock characters and present any new ideas. The acting is credible, the directing and cinematography competent, and the music is very pleasing, but the screenplay sadly fails to explore new territory or stretch the characters to allow us to get beneath their skins. The closest the film comes are in the few moments that close in on Pierre's face as music fills his soul, but the camera soon cuts away as if it's not sure what to do with the concept, leaving us with clichés about music as saving grace. This is hardly the fault of the cinematographer since screenwriters Christophe Barratier and Phillipe Lopes-Curval similarly steer only along well traveled paths.
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