Les Choristes- The Chorus

Les Choristes is a dramatic comedy film about a music teacher named Clement Mathieu who goes to work at an orphanage where children act out and get severely punished by their headmaster for a certain amount of time. When he arrives the children steal his sheet music which he has promised himself he wouldn't write ever again. He strongly disagrees with the punishment system but it isn't his place to do anything about it. The headmaster doesn't have faith in the children until the chorus is formed.master. When a child acts our or pulls a prank he says "action-reaction" and the child is punished by cleaning duties and solitude for

After a while he becomes inspired by the children and starts writing chorus music for them to sing. One day after Pierre Morhange (an orphan) is cleaning for punishments he starts to sing and Mathieu hears him. He gives Pierre a solo in his chorus and when Mathieu meets his mother (whom he is very fond of) he urges her to have him put into a school for gifted singers. He always believes in the children and does his best to keep them from being punished. Singing gave the children hope and a sense that someone cared about them. When he is fired for taking the children off "campus" part of the school is burned down by a student who escaped the school. As he is leaving, Pepinot, one of the children who longs to be adopted, rushes to Mathieu and begs to go with him which he can not decline.

Les Choristes was directed by Christophe Barratier and produced in 2004, staring Gerard Jugnot as Mathieu, Francois Berleand as Rachin, and Jean-Baptiste Maunier as Pierre Morhange. It was nominated or won awards in the Golden Globes, the Oscars, Australian Film Festival, BAFTA Awards, Bankok Internation Film Festival, Camerimage, Cesar Awards, European Film Awards, Goya Awards, Heartland Film Festival, London Critics Circle Film Awards, and many more.

Did you like the film? Why or why not?

I did like the film, I thought it was interesting how the children were so disciplined but at any moment they could snap out of it and behave badly. They stole money and played dangerous pranks that accidently injured one of the staff. Even though they knew who it wast the boys refused to tell so that their friend wouldn't be punished. Mathieu knew who it was and in his own ways punished the boy. To turn a rowdy group of boys into a hopeful choir who behaves is a hard and long process. i also liked how it was based on an earlier time period and at some times it was funny.

Was the film aesthetically beautiful? If yes than how so? If not, then why not?

Yes, the film was aesthetically beautiful because it used the beautiful voices of a real choir of young boys and an old building to be the orphanage. They way the movie is set back in time gives you a better idea of what orphanages were like when the war was over and shows what happens to the children of those who died. Not all of the children are orphans but some are troubled kids starting over. It uses scenery from countrysides and classrooms with wooden table desks, chalkboards, and ink wells for their pens. The old timey feel makes you think about kids now and then and how they grew up.

What are three major themes that the film addresses? How are those themes played out?

The three major themes are music, unnecessary punishments, and hope for hopeless children. The songs that the children sang were about places they could go, dreams they could have, and hope for their future. When no one would confess for pranks they did, the whole school would be punished and random kids were chosen for solitary. One boy was accused of stealing money and running away but he never stole it. The headmaster slapped the boy when police returned with him for over half an hour and told people he confessed when he never did. The boy who actually stole the money hid it but was caught by Matheiu and he told him that he wanted to buy a hot air balloon.

What does this film show about the French culture? Be specific!

This film shows how one man can change the future of many children just by believing in them when they needed it the most. The ways that the headmaster punished the children were so different from the ways of america. When I think of a child being put in solitary it makes me think of kids who are in jail. Also, the children were smoking even though it wan't allowed. One child set the school on fire and watched it burn while smoking. It was nice that in the end Pepinot got away form the school and adopted by someone who could love and support him.