9:43}; THE CHORUS (12A) 95min 0..
The best way to deal with the saccharine-drenched emotions that make up The Chorus (or Les Choristes) is to embrace them unhesitatingly and then move swiftly on before it all goes gooey and cloying.
It’s a film that bravely wears its heartstrings on its sleeve. Its first-time director Christophe Barratier still cannot quite believe his luck. It has been bestowed with Oscar and Bafta nominations, and more than eight million French cinemagoers have been seduced.
A warm and melodious tribute to the power of music, it has become a cultural phenomenon at home, leading to stampedes of hopefuls to choir schools, while its detractors bemoan its old-fashioned virtues.
Set in the austere Fond de l’e'tang (which translates as ‘bottom of the pond’) boarding school in the post- WWll period, it throws the rebellious pupils into conflict with the stern headmaster Rachin (Francois Berleand), who terrifies his students and resolves issues by
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banishing boys into solitary confinement.
Enter Clement Mathieu (Gerard Jugnot). a middle— aged music teacher who almost immediately recognises the pupils‘ desperation for real encouragement and respect. And once he discovers that several of the boys are gifted singers. he decides that music could be theirs — and, in a strange way. his - salvation.
There‘s no question that Jugnot‘s tour de force and the performances by the youngsters are heartfelt and very refreshing. Composer Bruno Coulais, working with the director, also a classically trained musician, has crafted a stirring and evocative score that perfectly complements the choral refrains.
Based loosely on Jean Dreville's 1945 musical La Cage aux Rossignols, The Chorus has elements of the moving classroom documentary Etre et Avoir and also with Shine. Such comparisons can only partly explain its unstoppable rise. Perhaps the rest is to do with an Amelie-like preoccupation with a France that has disappeared into the dry ice of time. (Richard Mowe)
Film news for beautiful cr‘neaste types
I The BBC-commissioned Tartan Short film - At the End of the Sentence, written by David Graig and to be directed by Marisa Zanotti - is looking for someone who is very proficient with a lasso. The individual must be able to move a chair with a lasso. If you would be interested and have the relevant skills please contact the producer, Susan Nickalls, on 07951 226 152 as soon as possible.
I Don't miss the next Blue Room at the Cameo Cinema, Edinburgh on Monday 7 March at 6.30pm. $73.50 ($72.50). 0131 228 4141. Edinburgh Mediabase presents another fine prograrrirne of the best shorts arOund. The line-up this time includes Richard Penlold's Dog Years, Teresa Grace Murray's Lux Mea and Vincent Hunter's Some Distant Day.
I Submissions are currently being sort for the Jim Poole Scottish Short Film Award 2005. Submissions are invited from Scottish filmmakers who have produced films of 20 minutes or less over the last year. The final shortlist of ten films will be screened in Scottish venues with all audiences voting toward the Audience Award. The final screening and awards ceremony takes place at the Cameo on Sunday 29 May 2005. The winner of the award will receive a cheque for £1000, as well as free delegates passes (for the director and producer) for the Edinburgh International Film Festival 2005. The Audience
. ' Award carries a prize of £500. To ' 3’ downloadanentryformvisit
. b ' I " W ‘:"""" www.picturehouses.co.ukand click on the Cameo link or visit the Cameo, 38 Home Street (near to the King's Theatre). For more information email jimpoole©picturehouses.co.uk.
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