The Chorus (Les Choristes)

• An inspirational story in the rich tradition of MUSIC OF THE HEART and MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS, THE CHORUS has moved critics everywhere to declare it one of the year's very best films! When he takes a job teaching music at a school for troubled boys, Cl ment Mathieu is unprepared for its harsh discipline and depressing atmosphere. But with passion and unconventional teaching methods, he's a

An inspirational story in the rich tradition of MUSIC OF THE HEART and MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS, THE CHORUS has moved critics everywhere to declare it one of the year's very best films! When he takes a job teaching music at a school for troubled boys, Clément Mathieu is unprepared for its harsh discipline and depressing atmosphere. But with passion and unconventional teaching methods, he's able to spark his students' interest in music and bring them a newfound joy! It also puts him at odds with the school's overbear! ing headmaster, however, locking Mathieu in a battle between politics and the determination to change his pupils' lives!By getting nominated for Academy Awards in both the Foreign Language Film and Best Song categories, Les Choristes (The Chorus) made a rare (for a European film) double impression at the 2004 Oscars. This sentimental tale follows the arrival of a new teacher at a remote boys school in 1949 France (the war is a largely unspoken but ghostly presence). With disciplinary problems rampant, and the policies of the old-fashioned headmaster not helping, Monsieur Mathieu decides to introduce choral singing as a way to bridge the gap with his students. You don't need a crystal ball to figure out where this will go, although the movie uses its atmospheric location and lush vocal arrangements well. Bald, dumpy Gerard Jugnot provides a refreshingly offbeat hero (though securely in the traditions of the My Most Memorable Teacher movie); he's sort of a younger Phil! ippe Noiret. Director Christophe Barratier works in the winsom! e-cute m ode that makes a certain kind of French movie into an overly sweet bon bon, although at least this bon bon sings. --Robert HortonThe Chorus (Les Choristes), written and directed by Christophe Barratier, is already a French cinema phenomenon. The modestly budgeted film about a music teacher in a post-war France who wins over the troubled students at a boarding school arrived in French theatres last summer with little advance hype. Defying industry expectations, this affecting tale proceeded to break box-office records. The soundtrack to The Chorus (Les Choristes) features performers by the Lyon-based Petits Chanteurs de Saint Marc and several haunting solo turns by 13 year-old boy soprano Jean-Baptiste Maunier, who also portrays the youthful protagonist of the film.Already a box office sensation with a million-selling soundtrack in its native France, writer/director Christopher Barratier's tale of a post-war music teacher's lasting impact on his young charges rode its ! formulaic Hollywood roots all the way to Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations as Best Foreign Language Film, as well as an Oscar nod for Best Song ("Look To Your Path [Vois Sur Ton Chemin]," a collaboration between the director and film composer Bruno Coulais). Taking his inspiration from the boy's chorus at the center of the film's drama, Coulais has concocted a masterful, classically rooted score that showcases the crystalline, youthful harmonies of Les Petits Chanteurs de Saint-Marc Choir. The composer bridges the baroque and modern eras in a collection of mostly Latin choruses and chants, a skillful, often haunting fusion that also netted Coulais' compelling score BAFTA and Cesar Awards in Britain and his native France, respectively. -- Jerry McCulley