The plot is not original, and in the film description we see the mention of another movie, “La cage aux rossignols”. So, it is just a remake.
What is wrong with movie The Chorus / Les choristes (2004)?
A very weak beginning: a famous music conductor, news about the mother (as a result, it is still not clear what happened to her), an old friend after 50 years? Yes, it is intriguing, makes you remember until the very end, but we get nothing, this plot layer remains weak even in the finale. There is a feeling of deception, unpleasant.
The second moment: what is the motivation of the children to work so hard and obey the teacher, who from the very beginning they met contemptuously with affront? In the film it is not shown in any way, they just suddenly became diligent pupils, some kind of magic. Almost instantaneous change in behavior.
Thirdly, everything is too sickly and sweet, everything is too good, there is no logic and development. The story goes so moderately and boringly, you expect something, but that “something” again does not happen. Do you think, well, maybe there will be something interesting at the end? But, unfortunately, no.
The fourth question that arises after watching and trying to understand The Chorus / Les choristes (2004). What kind of children are they anyway? Where did they come from, and why did they actually end up in prison? What period is it? You can do arithmetic and subtract 50 years, you will get the time of Marshal Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Pétain regime, when parents were simply forced to send their sons to such institutions. For the completeness of the picture, we should dive into history and find the answer why everything is the way it is. It would be logical to somehow show it to the viewer, but again we are thrown into abyss of the unknown and unanswered questions.
The fifth minus: low realism. The plot of the film shows a period of several months from the moment when the new teacher Clément Mathieu arrived and when the children sang well. But such a result can be considered not just good, but sky-high phenomenal. Even if the children are very willing (contrary to the input data, they simply do not have the motivation to indulge in it) and regular training, such results require a year, or even two. Musical notation, solfeggio – is it the same as learning how to peel potatoes or how to tie shoelaces? No. The fairy-tale plot betrays itself from real events, gradually moving to UNREAL events.
The most difficult student who independently learned the notes and words? Seriously? Why did he suddenly become so correct? A couple of takes, where he looks from behind the bars of the solitary confinement cell and is allegedly jealous of the others. But why is he jealous? Is talent rushing out? Did the moments with his mother push him to change? The main character motivational path is quite incomprehensible.
He simply began to diligently study music, singing and became a brilliant world-famous conductor.
Why didn’t anyone make this disclosure more detailed and understandable to the viewer? Neither the screenwriters nor the director. Too many white spots…
Love layer
The love, romantic line is absolutely vague. Clément Mathieu decided to win over the mother of the “local devil” Pierre Morhange and promises to help the boy’s musical talent as much as possible. But why do anything, if he himself has already done everything? He himself came to sing, to study music, to develop. What did the teacher do for Pierre Morhange in the film itself? Wrote a letter to someone to be listened to? But he would make his way on his own, if he has the talent and passion for music.
According to the film, he does everything himself, so why shouldn’t he continue to do everything himself? Again, the creators of the film did not pay due attention to this part, everything looks dry and illogical.
Intrigue in the film “The Chorus” / “Les choristes” (2004)
Absolute lack of intrigue. At the very beginning, we already know what awaits the two boys, and they have not spoken for 50 years (also very strange for me, by the way). And the rest characters, to be honest, are not interesting, and the director does not single them out in any way. We just watch the whole movie as singing children emerge from ordinary children, nothing else.
I spent an hour waiting for some events that would change my tense anticipation of a strong directorial or script move, to make me fall in love with this movie, to make me interested in watching it.
But 70 minutes have passed, and I’m just as bored. The angry school director does not cope with this role and the conflict in the film is not sufficiently expressive for a very long time, an obscenely long time. Finally, the 83rd minute and miraculously something is finally happening, have I been waiting?
Although stop. This is the end of the movie. And it is weak too, incredibly weak.
The introductory part remains insidiously undisclosed, two old friends who for some reason did not communicate for 50 years, simply read a diary, shed a stingy tear and that’s it.
Maybe I’m being too harsh, but I can’t help it. Perhaps this movie will appeal to vulnerable, sensitive people who will not be so demanding, who will not look for perfection in a simple retelling of fictional characters.
In general, the film is not so bad to watch and does not teach anything bad, which is good. But as a cinematic product – weakly, very weakly.
Scenario
It is the script that ruins everything in the movie “The Chorus”. Lack of contrast, no dynamics, motives and conflicts, zero character development. They are nauseatingly flat, understandable from the first seconds, and do not change during the course of the film. I was very bored, and I was waiting for the end, periodically distracting myself on this review.
Positive moments
Despite the negative review, “Les choristes” (The Chorus) has its good sides:
- Tough school director. A wonderful, stunning performance from actor François Berléand. All takes with his participation are full of his genius and maximum efficiency. The best character in the movie.
- Color solutions. It’s pleasing to the eye, the cameraman did a great job, as did the editing directors and colorists. All this together conveys the atmosphere of that time, you live in it, even if it is boring, but you believe all this is really in the distant past.
- The soundtrack pulls this picture together with the director from the very bottom. It is wonderful and haunts the entire film, gradually embodied in the performance of the choir. However, by the time of the final performance, the audience has already heard this melody so many times you just sit and enjoy it, nothing more. The realization did not reach its peak, as one would like to see in an ideal movie.
- The actor who played the teacher, Clément Mathieu – Gérard Jugnot. I see it for the first time, but the acting is quite decent. He did a great job with his task, but I believe the film director and the script did not allow him to reveal himself to the maximum. Teacher (actor) could have shown much more, I am sure of that.
What is the movie The Chorus / Les choristes (2004) about?
What is it full of? What did I get from this piece? What message? The main idea?
Kindness and loyalty, patience, humanity? Troubled times in France in the 1950s?
I don’t want to watch this movie again. It is primitive, but good at the same time. Casual, light, disposable and without depth, sophisticated directorial moves, without dynamics. A dull, boring retelling of an uncomplicated fairy-tale hackneyed story.
But what I will definitely do is watch the film that is the basis of this, namely “La cage aux rossignols”, which I mentioned at the beginning of review. It is very interesting, which is more interesting to watch and more valuable for cinematography.
Salvation, alternative
This movie could have been saved by the label “based on real events”, but no, it’s just another remake of “raising difficult children” and there were a lot of such attempts in the cinema, but not all of them had good marketing, like this one, which was heavily promoted. Ratings on film sites are high, reviews are mostly positive and written mostly by people as ordinary as the film itself.
Is it bad? No, because everyone expresses their opinion and if someone watches a movie and likes it, then there is something in it. But not for me.
I watched it on the recommendation of a friend, but it has been in my bookmarks for a long time, as far as I remember, only because of the high rating and laudatory reviews.
Summary of the movie The Chorus / Les choristes (2004)
It may seem I am not satisfied with “Les choristes”, but this is not the case. I wasn’t filled with anything after watching it, I didn’t get anything other than additional knowledge that there were difficult times in France before the Second World War, but this is in no way related to the film itself. A weak and primitive picture, but it looks easy, the frame is pleasant, the main character’s acting is worth paying attention to. One point for each plus described above.
A similar style of narration is very much requested in the TV-series. That’s where such a drag can be quite appropriate, in the series there is a place for describing all the undisclosed topics, space for maneuver and answers to all my questions above.
But isn’t it the real skill of the director and other participants to put all most important things in a short time frame? But they did not. The value of this product on the shelf of the cinema is extremely low, for me personally it goes to zero.
Not recommended for viewing. Save your time.
My rating for the tape The Chorus / Les choristes (2004) is 4 out of 10
