At the Library: ‘Utterly sincere’ French film
That a teacher’s influence can change forever the lives of students is a truism. Almost an inevitability. The students, being young, are, after all, unformed to some extent and in need of shaping if they are to succeed in the world. The teachers, older and presumably more settled in their lives, know the power they wield.
The good ones bend the twigs in their keeping in some benign and hopeful way. The bad ones may not use the cane these days, but they can beat down ideas and aspirations simply by scorning their charges and their childishness.
A number of very good movies have dived into these waters to great effect. Think “Dead Poets’ Society,” “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” and, of course, “Goodbye, Mr. Chips.”
Next week’s Movie at the Library is a French variation on the theme. It’s called “Les Choristes” — “The Chorus” in English. It won Oscar and Golden Globe nominations as Best Foreign Language Film of 2005, was nominated for the British Academy Award for best adapted screenplay and, perhaps predictably, was nominated for and won multiple Cesars — the French equivalent of the Oscar.
“Les Choristes” was directed by Christophe Barratier and written by Mr. Barratier and Philippe Lopes-Curval. It will be shown at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 26 in the Gill Patterson Room on the lower level of the Shelter Island Public Library. It is in French with English subtitles and runs 96 minutes.
Set in the France of 1949 — i.e. only shortly after the end of World War II — it tells the story of Clement Mathieu (played by Gerard Jugnot), a somewhat un-prepossessing music lover who is hired as a teaching assistant at a boarding school for boys so unruly that they’ve been thrown out of more ordinary educational establishments. The school is called “Fond de l’Etang,” in English, “the bottom of the pond.”
It is run by hard-nose, hard-driving headmaster, M. Rachlin (Francois Berleand), who regards the students as little more than pond scum. But his take-no-prisoners approach to discipline seems to have little effect. The boys are skilled saboteurs ever in revolt against him.
M. Matheiu and M. Rachlin butt heads until, with M. Rachlin’s reluctant approval, Mathieu begins a grand experiment to transform both the school and the boys in it. At the core of the experiment is a choir; Mathieu’s aim is to subvert these rambunctious boys into making common cause with him in the ultimate subversion of M. Rachlin’s mean-spirited methodology.
Among his charges are Pepinot (Maxence Perrin), who waits at the school gate each Saturday, believing his father will come to pick him up. Except that Saturday after Saturday the father never appears. Another charge is Pascal (Gregory Gatignol), a troubled older boy whose behavior puts Mathieu’s experiment in real danger. And Pierre (Jean-Baptiste Maunier), an introverted younger boy who is the despair of his widowed mother and seems to be the devil with the face of an angel.
Some American critics dismissed “Les Choristes” as being sentimental and predictable. The arc of the story is indeed familiar. But, as with plots about ugly ducklings evolving into beauties or wastrels turning into war heroes or doomed lovers triumphing over all obstacles, “Les Choristes” moves us because it is utterly sincere. We want Mathieu to succeed because we care what kind of men the boys of the choir will turn out to be if they are left to M. Rachlin’s cruelties.
And the music — actually sung by Les Petits Chanteurs de Saint-Marc Choir — is glorious.
Please join us for the screening of this touching film. Bring a pal. You’ll both enjoy it.
