We
can’t remember the last time we saw a French film on general
release in the cinema in England – possibly M. Hulot’s
Holiday or The Red Balloon. So, The Choir - or Les Choristes as
it is in French – may seem a rather unlikely choice to try
out on the British film-going public. After all, who is likely
to be interested in a bunch of disturbed and delinquent boys living
in a run-down chateau 50 years ago? But at the end, not a person
left the cinema while the credits rolled and the superb singing
of the French children’s choir continued.
The
basic story is pretty straightforward. A new supervisor arrives
at a very strict and distinctly ghastly institution, and by getting
the boys singing, he wins them over and sets up a super choir.
Within that formula, there are all the expected episodes, subplots,
characters and developments, and they keep the story moving along
nicely, ending with a suitable denouement.
Our
fear was that the film was going to be oversentimental and maudlin,
but the supervisor had a nice touch in being self-mocking while
not being an unduly soft touch with the boys, and the film managed
to avoid excess mawkishness.
One
had to suspend a certain amount of disbelief. For such a school
to create the quality of singing we heard was straining credibility,
but anyone who has worked with children with problems will have
come across individuals like those in the film – both staff
and boys.
The
institution portrayed in the film was also probably typical of
a number of children’s homes and approved schools in the
UK in 1949, when it was set, as well as in France. It was, after
all, in 1947 that a young (and popular) supervisor was shot dead
at the isolated Standon Farm School in Shropshire when the boys
there stole guns from the school armoury and broke out in the
middle of winter. It’s a pity they didn’t have a choir
to redeem them then. (Come to think of it, the Standon Farm Murder
would probably make a good film; perhaps it could establish a
new genre of films about children in the cinema.)
If
you’re looking for in-depth understanding of the causes
and treatment of disturbed behaviour, you’ll be disappointed;
nor is the film a critique of boarding school life. But The Choir
is well worth seeing for a pleasant feel-good evening, and the
music certainly bears repeating too.
As
a footnote, the French term used for supervisor in the film was
pion, the same as the pawn in chess. It speaks volumes about their
status. (In England the first qualifying courses for residential
child care workers were just starting at that time, and the workers
in the UK were of low standing too.) The head of the school in
The Choir insisted on being called Monsieur le Directeur. He couldn’t
have been a king or queen, as the Chair of his board of Governors
was a Countess, but surely he could have been a rook or a knight?
