The Chorus (2004)

Heartwarming

I first saw it at a retreat for teachers, and think it will warm your heart even if you do not teach kids. Beautiful music. Hard to see subtitles if you have a small screen. August 29, 2008

one of the best feel-good movies of this genre

We've seen them all - films from the teacher-student body drama genre. Dead Poets' Society, Mona Lisa Smile, Children of the Lesser God, Stand and Deliver, Mr. Holland's Opus, and all those sports flicks. The plot is typical - a group of students or a whole school of hooligans, handicapped, or privileged but uninspired adolescents transform into promising individuals who believed in themselves, thus challenging the common view that they are a hopeless bunch through the new revolutionary teacher. The teacher comes from out of town, unfamiliar with the new community, copes with their own personal failures and frustrations through an unintentional life mission, and as a result, does not sit well with the headmaster and parents, what with their with unorthodox teaching methods. Teacher struggles to reach out to students (main character usually a silent one, with untapped potential but happens to have extraordinary, scholarship-worthy talent), succeeds, but in the end cannot beat the system and eventually gets kicked out from the school.

Les Choristes is a French, postwar-set version of this well-known formulaic plot. Think, Dangerous Minds meets School of Rock. Typical of most European films nominated for the Oscars, it is both subtly dramatic and comedic. It has an entire cast of adorable little faces, making it easy for the audience to fall in love with the brats. The spotlight was really on cute Pepinot, the youngest student, who does not seem to have any reason to be in that school except that he was orphaned. The heartstring-tugging themes of teaching young minds to dream, making a difference, the power of kindness, music as a universal expression - we've seen them over and over. Even the farewell scene is predictable - if in Mona Lisa Smile, the girls chased Julia Roberts' car on their bikes as she drove off and in Dead Poets' Society, everyone stood on their desks to protest Robin Williams' dismissal, here, all the students flew paper airplanes with personal notes out the window to bid goodbye to Mathieu. So, what's new?

Nothing really, I'm just a sucker for charming European films like this and I won't even bother explaining how this movie is any different. Except probably that unlike most movies of the same genre that had their predictable tear-jerker parts, here I started crying about 5 minutes into the film and every 5 minutes thereafter. One of the best feel-good inspirational movies of all time. August 27, 2008

The Chorus

"The Chorus" is a wonderful movie to use with teachers or church groups. The subtitles are easy to follow if you don't speak French! It is an inspiring story about "lost" children in an institution, where one master comes with different ideas and with love for the pupils, one who makes a difference in their lives AND the institution.

A great film to generate discussion about the relevance to education today, and the vocation of teaching. August 11, 2008

Great movie

I caught this movie by chance and wasnt actually sitting down to watch a movie. But I started and could not stop. It captivated me. I recommend this movie to any audience. One of my top twenty favorite movies.

R M Fritz
www.FargoKids.com July 17, 2008

Les choristes

Shopping and buying were easy, the price was great, and the delivery was quick. I was very pleased. March 29, 2008

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