11th Nov 2007: Outreach Programme Screening : The Chorus

Lift Every Sweet Voice and Sing, Rascals, Sing
- New York Times

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 11 wins & 21 nominations
A Film By Christophe Barratier ,
Year : 2004 , Country : France ,
French with English Subtitles
Screening at Aruna Thirumana Mandapam
NSR Road Sai Baba Colony Coimbatore
11th Nov 2007 at 6 pm.
Call : 94430 39630

The Chorus - "Les Choristes"- is a Golden Globe-nominated, French-language drama - its characters are well drawn and it delivers its uplifting message with succinctness, sincerity and skill.

1949, post-War France – In a dark room, doom-filled school for troubled boys where hope itself in short supply, a mild-mannered new teacher has just arrived, only to find himself surrounded by prepubescent thieves, inveterate liars, unapologetic rebels and lost souls beyond reach. When Clement Mathieu introduces these supposedly hard-core delinquents to something they’ve never experienced before – the freedom and joy of music – he discovers there is far more to these children than anyone dared to believe.

Click here for trailer of The Chorus

The inspiring teacher here is a sweet- spirited bumbler and failed composer , who, with no other options in his life, takes a job as an instructor at a nightmarish, state-run boarding school for problem teenage boys.

The school is administered by the usual ogre, a self-important, incorrigibly petty bureaucrat whose philosophy is what he calls "action-reaction," or severely punishing everyone for the slightest infraction of the individual.

Of course, this Draconian approach doesn't work very well in practice, and the school is a blackboard jungle and a particular hell for the sensitive new teacher. But one day he gets the idea of funneling some of that youthful energy into a boys' choir, and the rest is history.
Inspired by the 1945 French drama, "La Cage aux Rossignols," the story is seen in flashback from the contemporary point of view of one of the students who is now a famous symphony conductor and is reading a memoir left by the teacher.

The performances are affecting and believable, the script never overdoes the brutality or schmaltz, and you leave the film impressed by the undeniable truth of its message: that a good teacher can make a profound difference in a lot of lives.


Christophe Barratier

“What I discovered is that directing is like being the captain of the boat. One of the most important things for the director is to cast well, not only the actors, but also the technicians. You don't really direct the kids, you just choose the right kids, because these kids didn't know about acting. You had to show them for who they are...really, themselves. Likewise for a DP or sound engineer, if you make the wrong choice, you are in an impossible situation.”
- - Christophe Barratier


Christophe Barratier was born in 1963. had undergone classical musical training from the age of seven . An acclaimed guitarist , he has won prizes in several international competitions. In 1991, he joined the production company of his uncle Jacques Perrin, Galatée Films. There he learned the art of film production and participated in the production of acclaimed documentaries including Microcosmos, the people of the grass (1995), Himalayas, Children of a head (1999) and Le Peuple migrateur (2001) as executive producer.
Click here for Christophe Barratier's interview.

In 2001, he started to experiment with the short film , The Gravestones , adapted from a story by Maupassant. It was selected for the Festival Short of Clermont-Ferrand. THE CHORUS is his second feature film. He is working on his third fim .