January 13, 2005 - Stories of teachers coming into a school to make a difference for troubled or neglected children seem to be one of the most worn themes in movie history. From Lean on Me to Dangerous Minds to Finding Forrester to School of Rock just to name a few, the whole idea of these stories has become a bit clichéd. Still, a good movie is a good movie, even if it works within a formula we've seen done before. The French film, The Chorus, is just such a film.

Well acted, well directed and even pretty touching in places, The Chorus does an excellent job of pulling you into its story. Set in post-war France of 1949, Gerard Jugnot plays Clement Mathieu, who comes in as the new supervisor to oversee a young group of delinquents at a school for troubled children. The school is run by a cruel and dictating headmaster named Rachin (Francois Berléand). He sees the children as hopeless and spends more time figuring out punishments for the kids than trying to teach them. Mathieu's first love is music and he believes that, if he can introduce these children to that love, he may just have a chance at saving them from oblivion. Little by little, he builds a choir out of the group, which irritates Rachin and impresses everyone else. The narrative is framed by a present day telling from two of Matheiu's prized students, Pepinot and Pierre Morhange, who grew up to become a world class conductor thanks to Matheiu's guidance.

The Chorus is a sweet film with excellent characterizations and some terrific performances. Jugnot's performance stands out. The French actor has been an acclaimed actor overseas for many years, but The Chorus's crossover international success may provide the first introduction to Mathieu for American audiences. Jugnot excels as the everyman character. Mathieu is getting older and, although his life hasn't gone exactly as planned, he's not bitter or jaded. He's still easily embarrassed by a pretty woman (Pierre's mother, Violette, played by Marie Bunel) and stumbles over his own feet, much to the amusement of the children. At first, they mock him as "baldy," but as his relationship with the children expands, the term actually becomes an affectionate one.

13-year-old Jean-Baptiste Maunier is the young Pierre Morhange. His performance often gives the experienced Jugnot a run for his money. This is really saying something considering this is the first feature for Maunier, a choir singer for Saint-Marc Petits Chanteurs. Beyond his incredible voice, Maunier delves deeply into his performance as the troubled and deeply conflicted Morhange. Francois Berléand, as Rachin, is the character you love to hate. Props to his performance, because he is certainly a despicable character.

	-Miramax Jugnot (as Mathieu, left) directs his student choir

The story has some occasional hiccups such as a brief sequence where Rachin decides to lighten up, playing soccer with the students and throwing paper airplanes around his office. This seemed extremely out of character for Rachin and, if this was supposed to showcase some sort of a turning point for his character, it never materializes. He goes right back to being evil shortly after and no mention of the brief excursion is ever mentioned. The final moment in the film for Matheiu, which I reserve not to give away, is a sweet moment but has no logical base. I'm not one to be a stickler for everything in a movie being factual, but certain moments in the film seem slightly forced in order to further enhance its sweet sentiments. These are still relatively minor quibbles.

Directed by Christophe Barratier, at this point it's probably not big news to praise this film. It was a runaway success in France in 2004 and stands a good chance in the Best Foreign Picture category at this year's Academy Awards. Barratier, who also has a musical background himself, shows a very firm grip on the material and nudges top-notch performances from a very large cast, much of who is of the pre-teen variety. This is no small task, especially for a first time director.

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