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Review: The Chorus (Les Choristes) (2004)
This was a feel-good movie, the typical sort of movie where a teacher inspires a class of rowdy kids. I’d heard about this movie long ago because the music was popular with my school’s choir. Simple feel-good story with nice music.
Spoilers.
Story
Clément Mathieu was the new prefect of Fond l’Étang, a school for troubled boys. The headmaster Rachin was very strict and cruel, and the boys acted out rebelliously. Though he was pranked, Mathieu would often cover for the boys. in one prank, the boys stole his pouch, discovering his music. After hearing the boys sing, Mathieu had an idea of starting a choir. That interested the boys, gave them an activity to focus on and to learn discipline from as they would practise regularly.
At one point, Rachin was done with the choir and told Mathieu to stop, but he continued, taking the choir underground. Maxence, the school caretaker, wrote to the benefactress of the school telling them about the choir, and she was interested in a performance. Rachin took all the credit to everyone’s distaste. Nonetheless, the performance was well-received.
On a day when Rachin was to attend a special meeting out of town, Mathieu and Maxence took the children out for a treasure hunt. Mondain, a disgruntled student who had been expelled, set fire to the school while they were out. Thankfully the children were safe, but Rachin suspended Maxence and fired Mathieu for taking the children out.
Though forbidden to bid farewell, the children sent Mathieu notes of farewell and gratitude through paper airplanes as he left. Pépinot, an orphan, followed behind, asking Mathieu to take him in, which he did.
That was the gist of it, there were various story lines with regards to some of the boys, namely Morhange, Pépinot, and Mondain. Morhange was the prodigy, the one whom Mathieu suggested to audition for a music academy. Pépinot was an orphan, and the smallest of the calss. Mondain was a delinquent, a bad influence on the others and a bully.
The story was simple and I think it was because this movie was more aimed towards kids. Rachin was the big bad villain. There was that period of time when the choir was going well and even Rachin loosened up to everyone’s delight. However, he returned to being a big bad villain and his comeuppance came off screen which wasn’t very satisfying. And I suppose that was because the movie wanted to focus on Mathieu instead.
But overall, ok story. Don’t expect anything too deep because it’s for kids.
Production
The acting was decent, particularly from the kids. Their roles weren’t that complicated but they got their jobs done. The script was simple but that was good for the kids. Direction was fine. Of course the music was the star of the show here, and this is one of those movies were more background music is not necessarily a distraction.
Characters
Clémont Mathieu
Mathieu was the new prefect. At first he was surprised by the cruelty of Rachin. He used his own way to deal with the students, by shielding them from Rachin but using other ways to punish them so that they would learn their lesson. After Le Querrec injured Maxence, Mathieu voluntold Le Querrec to take care of Maxence, which delighted Maxence, thinking the boy had volunteered. While Le Querrec was glum and quiet because he felt guilty about hurting Maxence, he soon found out that Maxence was actually quite kind, sticking up for the boy and treating him very warmly. Thus, when Maxence had to go to the hospital for further treatment, Le Querrec felt very guilty, but he had learned his lesson about not hurting others. Even after the ordeal with Mondain taking the fall for Corbin’s crime, Mathieu tried to speak in Mondain’s favour, asking Rachin for him to be readmitted. But because Mathieu refused to name Corbin, Rachin refused.
Though the boys only sang crude songs, Mathieu saw potential in all of the boys, and he felt that all of them could be taught to be disciplined singers. That was why he was patient with them.
Rachin fired Mathieu and Maxence for taking the kids out when he was gone. He pardoned Maxence for his years of service but he let go of Mathieu, always not seeing eye to eye with him. Nonetheless, even as he left, the children were grateful to him for giving them a unique experience. And though he would no longer have all the children of the school, Pépinot asked to be taken along with him, seeing more of a father figure in Mathieu than anyone else ever.
There was that storyline about Mathieu having a crush on Morhange’s mom. I low key wondered if his punishment on Morhange was partially personal, but that was not further explored. Morhange’s mom revealed she was seeing someone else anyway so Mathieu dropped any hopes of that. And he still helped Morhange get the audition into the music academy.
Anyway, Mathieu was what we like to see in a benevolent teacher. He didn’t let students off the hook, but he punished them in benevolent ways that helped them see the error in their ways. He believed in forgiveness, he believed in the potential of every child.
Rachin
Rachin was the headmaster who was very strict to everyone, both students and adults. He believed in solitary confinement, collective punishment, no fun at all. At first he sneered at Mathieu’s idea of organizing a choir, not believing any of the kids had it in them. But when the benefactress was interested in the choir, he took all the credit. We saw at the end that he hated kids, he hated running a school. He was politically ambitious and he just wanted to move ahead in his career.
As mentioned, there was a brief time in the middle of the movie when Rachin let loose and played some soccer with the kids. At that time, the kids were well-behaved, well-disciplined, because they were focused on the choir. And I guess they annoyed Rachin less. But any annoyance was one too much. He had no patience. When he questioned Mondain, he lied about Mondain having confessed and had him expelled.
In the end, Rachin was forced out, with testimony from everyone at the school.
Maxence
Maxence was the caretaker. When we first met him, he was injured by a booby trap set by Le Querrec. While Mathieu hid Le Querrec’s crime from Rachin, he forced Le Querrec to help Maxence while he was injured. And we saw that Maxence was actually quite sympathetic to Le Querrec, quite gentle to him. Later on, Maxence’s injury exacerbated so he was transferred to the hospital, which Le Querrec was guilty about.
Maxence’s return to the school was met with joy from the kids. Maxence and Mathieu were on good terms and they both cared for the kids. So when Rachin was out, they both agreed to take the kids out to have fun. When punished, Maxence offered to resign in solidarity but Mathieu insisted he stay since he did care for the kids. But Maxence would testify against Rachin for his bad ways.
Chabert
I thought Chabert was another caretaker at the school but Wikipedia tells me that he was the physical education teacher. At first, it seemed that he agreed with Rachin’s cruel ways. However, when the money was stolen and Rachin couldn’t buy supplies, Chabert uncovered Rachin’s secret stash of firewood and helped to take care of the kids. Hence, Mathieu realized that he was kindlier than he appeared.
Langlois
Langlois was the math teacher. On the outside, he seemed rather plain. However, he once heard Mathieu directing the choir and that really drew his interest. He revealed to Mathieu that he used to enjoy music quite a bit too. As the choir went on, he joined as the piano accompanist. And on his days off, he told Mathieu he’d visit his sister because she had a piano that he could practise on. Langlois, like the children, were inspired by music.
Morhange
Morhange was a troublemaker like the rest. His mother was a single working mom who’d try to visit him but he would often be punished and would miss the visiting time. However, he had a beautiful voice and Mathieu would train him for the solos. Mathieu was enamoured with Morhange’s mother as she was beautiful. Mathieu suggested the idea of Mohrange auditioning for a music academy which interested his mother. Morhange was upset with Mathieu and his mother getting close and pranked him. For punishment, Mathieu temporarily pulled his solo, though allowing him back in for a special performance. Mathieu mentioned that in that performance, he saw the joy in Morhange for being forgiven, for being allowed to perform again.
Morhange’s mother was seeing an engineer but when she refused to put him in a boarding school, he left them. Upon the suggestion from Mathieu earlier, Morhange auditioned for the vocal academy and got in. Morhange appeared at the beginning and end of the movie as an adult fondly reminiscing with Pépinot about Mathieu. It was Mathieu who started his music career.
Pépinot
Pépinot was an orphan whose parents died in the war. However, he did not know this and kept waiting at the gate every Saturday for his parents to pick him up. He was the smallest and thus the shiest and most prone to bullying. We saw that he was extorted for money by Mondain.
Because Pépinot didn’t know any songs, Mathieu assigned him to be his assistant. We saw that Pépinot did very menial tasks like handing Mathieu his items, but it gave Pépinot another way to be involved in the choir, like the other student who had no concept of pitch and was assigned to be the music stand.
Pépinot chased after Mathieu after he was fired, hoping to stay with him. As mentioned, he saw a father figure in Mathieu. In the end, Mathieu relented and let Pépinot come with him.
It was an adult Pépinot who approached adult Morhange to tell him of Mathieu’s passing and reminisce together.
Mondain
Mondain was a troubled and delinquent boy who came to the school. He was a bully and often got in trouble for smoking, drinking alcohol, and stealing. He had once stolen a watch and Chabert punished him for it.
Mondain fled the school at the same time that money was stolen from Rachin’s office. When Mondain was found and returned to the school, Rachin beat him for the information but Mondain didn’t respond as he didn’t know. Rachin lied and said that Mondain had confessed and had him arrested.
Later, it was revealed that another student had stolen the money. Mathieu tried to get Rachin to readmit Mondain but Rachin would have none of it, letting the justice system deal with a problem child like Mondain.
At the end of the movie, it was Mondain who had set first to the school, committing revenge for being framed. Thankfully no students were harmed.
Corbin
Corbin was a student who was hanging out with Mondain a lot, which Mathieu didn’t really approve of. After Mondain had been expelled, the money was found hidden with Corbin’s harmonica, revealing Corbin as the culprit. He revealed that he wanted to save money to buy a hot air balloon. Maybe he wanted to leave, maybe it was just a dream. Mathieu once again protected Corbin’s identity from Rachin, but because he did, Rachin would not let Mondain back into the school.
Themes
As is often the cases with these stories about teachers inspiring their students, Mathieu saw the potential in each and every one of his students. Each one of them could contribute in their own ways. That being said, he also made it clear that everyone in the team was equal and no one was more special than others. When Morhange was punished, Mathieu removed his solo, telling him that he wasn’t so special that he could participate even while being punished for his pranks.
From the perspective of the students, they appreciated someone who saw value in them. Someone who didn’t just give blanket punishment to all the students for every crime no matter how big and small. Mathieu was someone who actually wanted to learn something. And they appreciated that the teachers tried to take care of them, like Mathieu, Maxence, Langlois, Chabert. That was why Pépinot and Morhange remembered them fondly in adulthood.
Overall
A nice feel-good movie with nice music.
Spoilers.
Story
Clément Mathieu was the new prefect of Fond l’Étang, a school for troubled boys. The headmaster Rachin was very strict and cruel, and the boys acted out rebelliously. Though he was pranked, Mathieu would often cover for the boys. in one prank, the boys stole his pouch, discovering his music. After hearing the boys sing, Mathieu had an idea of starting a choir. That interested the boys, gave them an activity to focus on and to learn discipline from as they would practise regularly.
At one point, Rachin was done with the choir and told Mathieu to stop, but he continued, taking the choir underground. Maxence, the school caretaker, wrote to the benefactress of the school telling them about the choir, and she was interested in a performance. Rachin took all the credit to everyone’s distaste. Nonetheless, the performance was well-received.
On a day when Rachin was to attend a special meeting out of town, Mathieu and Maxence took the children out for a treasure hunt. Mondain, a disgruntled student who had been expelled, set fire to the school while they were out. Thankfully the children were safe, but Rachin suspended Maxence and fired Mathieu for taking the children out.
Though forbidden to bid farewell, the children sent Mathieu notes of farewell and gratitude through paper airplanes as he left. Pépinot, an orphan, followed behind, asking Mathieu to take him in, which he did.
That was the gist of it, there were various story lines with regards to some of the boys, namely Morhange, Pépinot, and Mondain. Morhange was the prodigy, the one whom Mathieu suggested to audition for a music academy. Pépinot was an orphan, and the smallest of the calss. Mondain was a delinquent, a bad influence on the others and a bully.
The story was simple and I think it was because this movie was more aimed towards kids. Rachin was the big bad villain. There was that period of time when the choir was going well and even Rachin loosened up to everyone’s delight. However, he returned to being a big bad villain and his comeuppance came off screen which wasn’t very satisfying. And I suppose that was because the movie wanted to focus on Mathieu instead.
But overall, ok story. Don’t expect anything too deep because it’s for kids.
Production
The acting was decent, particularly from the kids. Their roles weren’t that complicated but they got their jobs done. The script was simple but that was good for the kids. Direction was fine. Of course the music was the star of the show here, and this is one of those movies were more background music is not necessarily a distraction.
Characters
Clémont Mathieu
Mathieu was the new prefect. At first he was surprised by the cruelty of Rachin. He used his own way to deal with the students, by shielding them from Rachin but using other ways to punish them so that they would learn their lesson. After Le Querrec injured Maxence, Mathieu voluntold Le Querrec to take care of Maxence, which delighted Maxence, thinking the boy had volunteered. While Le Querrec was glum and quiet because he felt guilty about hurting Maxence, he soon found out that Maxence was actually quite kind, sticking up for the boy and treating him very warmly. Thus, when Maxence had to go to the hospital for further treatment, Le Querrec felt very guilty, but he had learned his lesson about not hurting others. Even after the ordeal with Mondain taking the fall for Corbin’s crime, Mathieu tried to speak in Mondain’s favour, asking Rachin for him to be readmitted. But because Mathieu refused to name Corbin, Rachin refused.
Though the boys only sang crude songs, Mathieu saw potential in all of the boys, and he felt that all of them could be taught to be disciplined singers. That was why he was patient with them.
Rachin fired Mathieu and Maxence for taking the kids out when he was gone. He pardoned Maxence for his years of service but he let go of Mathieu, always not seeing eye to eye with him. Nonetheless, even as he left, the children were grateful to him for giving them a unique experience. And though he would no longer have all the children of the school, Pépinot asked to be taken along with him, seeing more of a father figure in Mathieu than anyone else ever.
There was that storyline about Mathieu having a crush on Morhange’s mom. I low key wondered if his punishment on Morhange was partially personal, but that was not further explored. Morhange’s mom revealed she was seeing someone else anyway so Mathieu dropped any hopes of that. And he still helped Morhange get the audition into the music academy.
Anyway, Mathieu was what we like to see in a benevolent teacher. He didn’t let students off the hook, but he punished them in benevolent ways that helped them see the error in their ways. He believed in forgiveness, he believed in the potential of every child.
Rachin
Rachin was the headmaster who was very strict to everyone, both students and adults. He believed in solitary confinement, collective punishment, no fun at all. At first he sneered at Mathieu’s idea of organizing a choir, not believing any of the kids had it in them. But when the benefactress was interested in the choir, he took all the credit. We saw at the end that he hated kids, he hated running a school. He was politically ambitious and he just wanted to move ahead in his career.
As mentioned, there was a brief time in the middle of the movie when Rachin let loose and played some soccer with the kids. At that time, the kids were well-behaved, well-disciplined, because they were focused on the choir. And I guess they annoyed Rachin less. But any annoyance was one too much. He had no patience. When he questioned Mondain, he lied about Mondain having confessed and had him expelled.
In the end, Rachin was forced out, with testimony from everyone at the school.
Maxence
Maxence was the caretaker. When we first met him, he was injured by a booby trap set by Le Querrec. While Mathieu hid Le Querrec’s crime from Rachin, he forced Le Querrec to help Maxence while he was injured. And we saw that Maxence was actually quite sympathetic to Le Querrec, quite gentle to him. Later on, Maxence’s injury exacerbated so he was transferred to the hospital, which Le Querrec was guilty about.
Maxence’s return to the school was met with joy from the kids. Maxence and Mathieu were on good terms and they both cared for the kids. So when Rachin was out, they both agreed to take the kids out to have fun. When punished, Maxence offered to resign in solidarity but Mathieu insisted he stay since he did care for the kids. But Maxence would testify against Rachin for his bad ways.
Chabert
I thought Chabert was another caretaker at the school but Wikipedia tells me that he was the physical education teacher. At first, it seemed that he agreed with Rachin’s cruel ways. However, when the money was stolen and Rachin couldn’t buy supplies, Chabert uncovered Rachin’s secret stash of firewood and helped to take care of the kids. Hence, Mathieu realized that he was kindlier than he appeared.
Langlois
Langlois was the math teacher. On the outside, he seemed rather plain. However, he once heard Mathieu directing the choir and that really drew his interest. He revealed to Mathieu that he used to enjoy music quite a bit too. As the choir went on, he joined as the piano accompanist. And on his days off, he told Mathieu he’d visit his sister because she had a piano that he could practise on. Langlois, like the children, were inspired by music.
Morhange
Morhange was a troublemaker like the rest. His mother was a single working mom who’d try to visit him but he would often be punished and would miss the visiting time. However, he had a beautiful voice and Mathieu would train him for the solos. Mathieu was enamoured with Morhange’s mother as she was beautiful. Mathieu suggested the idea of Mohrange auditioning for a music academy which interested his mother. Morhange was upset with Mathieu and his mother getting close and pranked him. For punishment, Mathieu temporarily pulled his solo, though allowing him back in for a special performance. Mathieu mentioned that in that performance, he saw the joy in Morhange for being forgiven, for being allowed to perform again.
Morhange’s mother was seeing an engineer but when she refused to put him in a boarding school, he left them. Upon the suggestion from Mathieu earlier, Morhange auditioned for the vocal academy and got in. Morhange appeared at the beginning and end of the movie as an adult fondly reminiscing with Pépinot about Mathieu. It was Mathieu who started his music career.
Pépinot
Pépinot was an orphan whose parents died in the war. However, he did not know this and kept waiting at the gate every Saturday for his parents to pick him up. He was the smallest and thus the shiest and most prone to bullying. We saw that he was extorted for money by Mondain.
Because Pépinot didn’t know any songs, Mathieu assigned him to be his assistant. We saw that Pépinot did very menial tasks like handing Mathieu his items, but it gave Pépinot another way to be involved in the choir, like the other student who had no concept of pitch and was assigned to be the music stand.
Pépinot chased after Mathieu after he was fired, hoping to stay with him. As mentioned, he saw a father figure in Mathieu. In the end, Mathieu relented and let Pépinot come with him.
It was an adult Pépinot who approached adult Morhange to tell him of Mathieu’s passing and reminisce together.
Mondain
Mondain was a troubled and delinquent boy who came to the school. He was a bully and often got in trouble for smoking, drinking alcohol, and stealing. He had once stolen a watch and Chabert punished him for it.
Mondain fled the school at the same time that money was stolen from Rachin’s office. When Mondain was found and returned to the school, Rachin beat him for the information but Mondain didn’t respond as he didn’t know. Rachin lied and said that Mondain had confessed and had him arrested.
Later, it was revealed that another student had stolen the money. Mathieu tried to get Rachin to readmit Mondain but Rachin would have none of it, letting the justice system deal with a problem child like Mondain.
At the end of the movie, it was Mondain who had set first to the school, committing revenge for being framed. Thankfully no students were harmed.
Corbin
Corbin was a student who was hanging out with Mondain a lot, which Mathieu didn’t really approve of. After Mondain had been expelled, the money was found hidden with Corbin’s harmonica, revealing Corbin as the culprit. He revealed that he wanted to save money to buy a hot air balloon. Maybe he wanted to leave, maybe it was just a dream. Mathieu once again protected Corbin’s identity from Rachin, but because he did, Rachin would not let Mondain back into the school.
Themes
As is often the cases with these stories about teachers inspiring their students, Mathieu saw the potential in each and every one of his students. Each one of them could contribute in their own ways. That being said, he also made it clear that everyone in the team was equal and no one was more special than others. When Morhange was punished, Mathieu removed his solo, telling him that he wasn’t so special that he could participate even while being punished for his pranks.
From the perspective of the students, they appreciated someone who saw value in them. Someone who didn’t just give blanket punishment to all the students for every crime no matter how big and small. Mathieu was someone who actually wanted to learn something. And they appreciated that the teachers tried to take care of them, like Mathieu, Maxence, Langlois, Chabert. That was why Pépinot and Morhange remembered them fondly in adulthood.
Overall
A nice feel-good movie with nice music.