Les Choristes

Christophe Barratier's unassuming and heart-warming film Les Choristes is a remake of a 1945 classic, Le Cage aux Rossingols. Set in the post-war French provence, a retired teacher, Clement Mathieu (Gerard Jugnot) seeks his fortune in an infamously known reformatory school for orphaned boys, petty criminals and street urchins. From his first day of school he has encountered troubles from disturbed rascals and incorrigibles. The schoolmaster has known only one philosophy in life and he has zealously applied this to the young boys: Action = Reaction. Read: for every misdeed an equivalent corporal punishment is meted out.

But the kindly and genial new teacher, Monsieur Mathieu knows that there is only one way to reach out to these troubled children: through their hearts. So he arranges a class to teach them music and
choir singing. At first he meets strong resistance and pessimism from the school head and some members of the faculty. But soon his labors reap rewards when the Duchess visits the school one day and is enamored of the boys' angelic singing.
Through the gentleness of music, Monsieur Mathieu teaches the boys discipline, camaraderie and their purpose in life, that is, to make music and let it resound into their very hearts and the hearts of people around them. Told in the voice of Monsieur Mathieu's youngest pupil and adopted son Pepinot (Maxence Perrin, the adorable son of Jacques Perrin, Cinema Paradiso, Flight of the Innocents, Olivier! Olivier!) to his childhood friend and classmate Morhange (Bonnaire/Jacques Perrin) who is now a famous concert conductor, Les Choristes scores big in the hearts of the audience and critics alike. Comparable to Mr. Holland's Opus, Dead Poets' Society and Dangerous Minds, this film is a runaway best-seller.

Directed by: Christophe Barratier
Cast: Gerard Jugnot, Jean-Paul Bonnaire, Maxence Perrin, Jacques Perrin, Phillipe Du Janerand.