The Chorus

Original title: Les choristes

2004
PG-13
1h 37m

IMDb RATING

7.8/10

68K

YOUR RATING

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4 Videos

42 Photos

Drama Music

Pierre, a successful orchestra conductor, returns home when his mother dies. He stumbles upon an old diary and recollects the childhood school memories and his music teacher Clement Mathieu.Pierre, a successful orchestra conductor, returns home when his mother dies. He stumbles upon an old diary and recollects the childhood school memories and his music teacher Clement Mathieu.Pierre, a successful orchestra conductor, returns home when his mother dies. He stumbles upon an old diary and recollects the childhood school memories and his music teacher Clement Mathieu.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.8/10

68K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 2 Oscars
- 12 wins & 24 nominations total

Trivia
Actor, co-producer Gérard Jugnot mortgaged his Paris apartment to help finance the film. The bet paid off, and he ended up making over 5 million euros for 'Les Choristes' as actor and co-producer. He earned the title of the highest-paid French actor in 2004, overtaking Jean Reno and Gérard Depardieu.

Goofs
During the auditions, Mathieu sends pupils to the right or to the left showing the direction by his hand. When directing Ricoeur, who sings "I've got tobacco in my pouch", to the left (at 33:06 to 33:07) he first moves his hand to his right, which some cite as an error while others cite it as a flourish, but then sweeps or hooks his hand left.

Quotes
Pierre Morhange adulte: Pepinot was right all along. Clement Mathieu was fired on a Saturday.

Connections
Featured in Interdit aux plus de 13 ans (2004)

Soundtracks
Les Choristes
Lyrics By Christophe Barratier
Music By Bruno Coulais
Orchestra: Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra-Sif 309, Conductor Deyan Pavlov'
© 2004 Warner Bros. Records,WEA Music (p) 2004 Galatée Films

User reviews140

Review

Featured review

8/10

Awesome movie!

By getting nominated for Academy Awards in both the Foreign Language Film and Best Song categories, Les Choristes (The Chorus) made a rare (for a European film) double impression at the 2004 Oscars. This sentimental tale follows the arrival of a new teacher at a remote boys school in 1949 France (the war is a largely unspoken but ghostly presence). With disciplinary problems rampant, and the policies of the old-fashioned headmaster not helping, Monsieur Mathieu decides to introduce choral singing as a way to bridge the gap with his students. You don't need a crystal ball to figure out where this will go, although the movie uses its atmospheric location and lush vocal arrangements well. Bald, dumpy Gerard Jugnot provides a refreshingly offbeat hero (though securely in the traditions of the My Most Memorable Teacher movie); he's sort of a younger Philippe Noiret. Director Christophe Barratier works in the winsome-cute mode that makes a certain kind of French movie into an overly sweet Bone Bone, although at least this Bone Bone sings.