Les Choristes (The Chorus)(2004)
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At a boarding school for 'difficult' children in post-war France, a teacher manages to connect with the pupils through the power of music.
Certificate
Age group12+ years
Duration92 mins
As my tediously boring life reached new anti-climaxes, I decided to take serious action to liven things up. The age of anti-depressants is over. Annihilated, as The Chorus rolls into light. Before watching this film, I thought I would immensely struggle to follow the elusive language of French, safe to say I had no problems reading the subtitles.
Les Choristes, (As they say in French) is heartwarming and No One should avoid confrontation with it just because it is a Foreign Language film.
The Plot; Clément, a middle aged, bald man with an ambitious passion for songwriting, comes to a "troubled" school and begins enslaving rebellious boys into a choir cult, after discovering that some of them can sing. Unknown to the deranged headmaster who has a fond desire for child cruelty, Clément enlists most of the boys in the institution and begins to write songs for his newly constructed choir. Hypnotized by Clément's teaching, the boys behavioral problems reduce so much so that the headmaster, loses his favorite hobby, causing mistrust and tension between the staff of Fond de L'Etang (The Bottom of the Pond).
The best feature of The Chorus, is definitely the score i.e. the songs of the brainwashed children. Original songs by Bruno Coulais and Les Petits Chanteurs de Saint-Marc were very well sung, best ones probally "Vois Sur Ton Chemin" and "Les Avions en Papier"
To sum up, The Chorus is one of the best Foreign Language films I have seen yet, and has undeniably persuaded me to try harder in French (Not Much Harder Though!).
Print this reviewThe arrival of an unorthodox, inspiring teacher to a conservative '50s boarding school has a huge, controversial impact in this famed, touching drama.
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