French producer and musician Christophe Barratier makes his directorial
debut with the drama Les Choristes, inspired by the 1947
film La
Cage aux Rossignols. Wildly
successful orchestra conductor Pierre Morhange (Jacques Perrin) returns home
when his mother dies. He recollects his
childhood inspirations through the pages of a diary kept by his old music
teacher Clément Mathieu (Gérard Jugnot). Back in the late '40s, little Pierre
(Jean-Baptiste Maunier) is the badly behaved son of single mother Violette (Marie
Bunel). He attends a dreary boarding
school presided over by strict headmaster Rachin (François Berléand). New teacher Mathieu brightens up the place
and organizes a choir, leading to the discovery of Pierre's musical talents. Featuring performances by Les Petits Chanteurs de Saint-Marc Choir.
Les Choristes was shown at the
Berlin Film Festival in 2004. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
95 minutes, rated PG-13, in French with English subtitles
Martha Reingold has been a film-lover as far back as she can remember. In recent years, “Martha’s Movies” has been presenting “Films for Fun & Films for Thought” at various venues in the greater Hartford area.