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Just click the "Edit page" button at the bottom of the page or learn more in the Synopsis submission guide. Sign In. Edit The Chorus Jump to: Summaries 5. Getting Started Contributor Zone ». Edit page. Top Gap. Then as Mathieu journals the choir's success, we learn that Rachin is also experiencing joy as a result, and we see him mimicking the boys in his office by throwing paper airplanes from the top of his desk. Five minutes later, he irrationally blames the choir for one disciplinary matter.
His actions and demeanor just don't quite add up, flip-flopping his position as the plot requires. By the end, it's clear he's in the movie to play the sneering moustached villain, not a convincing hard-case foil to the protagonist. Midway through, the film introduces a remorseless bully named Mondain Gregory Gatignol.
While he does initially add tension to the story by thwarting Mathieu's plans, you have to wonder what purpose he serves other than to represent the potential of danger in the school.
He does play a small part in the final outcome, but there's so much time spent on him for so little payoff, why bother? He's an excuse, but he's not pertinent. Then there's Morhange Jean-Baptiste Maunier , singled out to Mathieu at the film's start as one of the school's biggest troublemakers. Wouldn't you know it that he's also the fairest and most gifted boy soprano of the bunch? We never really buy that he's really one of the most problematic, and his salvation isn't suspenseful since the film begins in the present day with Morhange revealed to be a famous classical conductor and musician.
Les Choristes is not a bad film and it has great potential, but too often it shortchanges itself from being a great one. It relies too much on surface value when there are so many rich opportunities for character development. Other than a real-life saint with a love for music, who is Mathieu?
Why did he have to give up his musical dreams and take a teaching job? He shows favoritism to Morhange and a small orphan named Pepinot, so wouldn't the rest of the delinquents in the choir respond negatively to that? Movies like these require a certain degree of ensemble acting, but here we have an array of cute faces with just two or three barely developed characters interacting with Mathieu. And without giving away the ending, one has to wonder if the lives of the children are truly changed beyond the two that Mathieu shows favoritism to.
As for the music, it's beautifully sung by the Saint-Marc Petite Chanteurs. The child actors in the film do a fine job emulating the singing, and Maunier is a talented soloist.
That said, this isn't the most amazing choral music you'll ever hear, relying on simple melodies and primarily singing in unison or two-part harmony. Also, will the music register as much with American audiences since the lyrics are not subtitled in English like the dialogue? Les Choristes isn't quite as forced and syrupy as Mr. Chips either. The ethical theme of punishment and forgiveness, along with the flashback narrative and the boys school, remind me most of the similarly good-but-flawed The Emperor's Club with Kevin Kline.
A slightly stronger and longer script could have easily remedied the weaknesses in this movie by adding thirty more minutes of character development and details to potentially elevate it above its hackneyed devices. Of course, millions of satisfied French filmgoers can't be wrong.
The film has an effective score, including some original music by the director, a classically trained guitarist who played professionally for a number of years before turning to the film industry. Despite the occasional foray into the realm of sentimentality, The Chorus is a lovely movie.
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