History Film / LesChoristes

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[[quoteright:308:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thechorus.jpg]]

->''Vois sur ton chemin\\
Gamins oubliés égarés\\
Donne leur la main\\
Pour les mener\\
Vers d'autres lendemains'' [[labelnote:Click for translation]]\\
See upon your path\\
Children forgotten and lost\\
Give them your hand\\
To lead them\\
To other tomorrows.[[/labelnote]]

''Les Choristes'' (literally "The Choristers", translated as ''The Chorus'') is a 2004 French film directed and written by Christophe Barratier.

America, present day. Wildly successful orchestra conductor Pierre Morhange is called back to France for his mother's funeral, and is visited by Pépinot, his one-time classmate. He's brought a photograph of their school years, and the diary that their teacher kept.

Rewind back to 1949. Clément Mathieu, a failed musician, accepts a post at 'Fond de l'Etang' ('Bottom of the Pond'; colloquially, 'Rock Bottom'), a school for delinquent boys. Horrified both by their behaviour and the brutally repressive methods of headmaster Rachin, he begins to teach his class music as a way to get their attention. It... doesn't all go according to plan.

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!!''Les Choristes'' provides examples of:
* TheForties: The story of Mathieu at Fond de l'Etang is set in the late 1940's. The consequences of the war are mentioned: Pépinot's parents disappeared during the war. There is also a boy who sings a song dedicated to the leader of Vichy France, Marshal Pétain (''Maréchal, nous voilà !'').
* ArcWords: ''Ne Jamais Dire Jamais'' (Never Say Never)
* BawdySong: Mondain loves these.
* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:When the school burns down, Mathieu is out of a job, having recently been told the woman he loves is with another man (who the viewer is told leaves her shortly afterwards). The only thing stopping it from being a total Downer is the audience's knowledge of Morhange's future and the adoption of Pépinot by Mathieu.]]
* BlitheSpirit: Clément Mathieu, a failed musician, arrives in a school where there is a vicious circle of malfeasances by the pupils and harsh punishments by the headmaster. He will shake things up thanks to music.
* BoardingSchoolOfHorrors: A sadist headmaster, a dungeon fit for a HellholePrison, bullies... A pupil even committed suicide.
* BrokenAce: Implied with Rachin, a former trumpet player who clearly states he had no desire to be a teacher. His broken dreams clearly put him just as much at the "rock bottom" as the children.
* TheBully: Mondain bullies Pépinot. He demands money to let him into the dormitory.
* BunnyEarsPicturePrank: Someone is putting bunny ears behind Rachin's head in the film poster, as seen in the page image.
* ButNowIMustGo: Mathieu, who has given hope to the boys and has given Morhange an opportunity to start a musical career, has to leave in the end: [[spoiler:he is fired by Rachin.]]
* CallingMeALogarithm: A boy is offended when Mathieu tells him that he is a baritone.
* CatchPhrase: "Action-Reaction" is constantly spouted by several characters.
* ChekhovsGun:
** "My parents are coming for me on Saturday." Said by the orphaned Pépinot, despite visiting days not being on Saturday. [[spoiler: Then Mathieu adopts him after he gets fired. When was he fired? On a Saturday.]]
** The boy who wanted to become a hot-air balloon pilot when he grew up. [[spoiler: It turns out he was behind the theft Mondain was sent to prison for, all because he wanted to buy a hot air balloon.]]
* CherubicChoir: The music is diegetic here, but it nevertheless symbolizes a new hope for these children living in a harsh environment.
* CoolTeacher: Clément Mathieu is not technically a teacher, but a supervisor. He nevertheless teaches music. He is cool: he protects the children from Rachin, he organizes funny activities like a treasure hunt.
* DeanBitterman: Rachin, the headmaster. He inflicts harsh punishment on the pupils. He only reluctantly accepts that Clément sets up a choir and finally he forbids it.
* DidNotGetTheGirl: Mathieu does not charm his LoveInterest, Morhange's mother. She falls in love with an engineer who later dumps her.
* DisappearedDad: Morhange's father has left and only his mother brings him up.
* DisproportionateRetribution: One of the key themes is how the boys are used to a cycle of them doing something bad, and regardless of the punishment are beaten by Mr Rachin, sent to the cell and forced to clean the school.
* DreadfulMusician: Corbin's singing is so off-key that Mathieu makes him into the choir's music stand.
* DrivenToSuicide: Mouton threw himself off the roof of the school, because of the harsh punishments.
* DustbinSchool: Fond de l'Etang is a school for delinquent boys.
* FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: Régent, the previous supervisor, describes Morhange as this.
* FiredTeacher: Clément Mathieu is not technically a teacher, but a supervisor. He nevertheless teaches music. [[spoiler:In the end, he is fired because he organized a treasure hunt.]]
* ForegoneConclusion: The opening sequence shows that Morhange has had a successful career as a profesional musician.
%%* ForTheEvulz: Mondain
* FramingDevice: The bulk of the story (Mathieu's stay at Fond de l'Étang in the late 1940's) is framed by the story of the adult Morhange who reads Clément Mathieu's diary.
* HeartwarmingOrphan: Pépinot. His parents disappeared during the war. He is bullied by the other children (notably Mondain). [[spoiler:He gets a happy ending, when Clément Mathieu decides to adopt him.]]
* HiddenDepths:
** Mathieu originally believes Chabert to be a strong supporter of Rachin's policies, but he is quickly revealed to be a genial, decent guy who helps Mathieu with his choir.
** Rachin is shown trying to make his own paper airplanes and plays a game of football with the children, but this is later [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk subverted]].
* IronicEcho: ''"I am Clément Mathieu, a musician and each night I compose for [the children]."'' becomes [[spoiler: ''"I am Clément Mathieu, a failed musician; a surveillant without employment."'']]
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Both of the other two supervisors are initially seen as disinterested or disciplinarian, yet Chabert later helps Mathieu run the choir after it is banned and Langlois ends up playing the piano for the group.
* JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: At the middle of the movie, as the students behaviour is improving and the success of Mathieu's methods become apparent, Rachin at first seems to mellow in his harshness and become kinder, playing football with the students he previously despised. Towards the end of the film however, [[spoiler:as he takes credit for Mathieu's work and then fires him for breaking the school rules by taking the boys out for a picnic, even though he saved their lives from the fire, it turns out that he's still the same bastard he was before.]]
* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: If Mondain is caught after setting the school on fire, we don't get to see it.]] He was, however [[NotMeThisTime punished for stealing the school's money when it was not him.]]
* LaResistance: Thanks to [[spoiler: Rachin banning the choir]], Mathieu jokingly calls them this after they practice in private.
* LastNameBasis: The students are referred to by their last names.
* LoserProtagonist: Rachin calls Mathieu a failed musician. Langlois is surprised that he is still only a supervisor at his age. Mathieu himself acknowledges that he is a failed musician.
* MeaningfulName:
** [[AllLovingHero The only teacher who tries to help/forgive/accept]] the boys at the school has a name that means 'merciful' (''Clément'' Mathieu).
** Rachin's name could be derived from the verb "cracher", to spit. Also similar to "requin" (shark).
** Morh''ange'', referring to how Mr Régent called him "The face of an angel, but the mind of the devil".
* MistakenForPedophile: The kids steal Mathieu's musical scores. They hide in the toilet to have a look at them. Mathieu notices it and goes into the toilet to get back his scores. Then, Chabert enters the toilet and tells Mathieu that he wants none of that here.
* MusicStories: The story of a supervisor who sets up a choir in a school for delinquent boys. The choir perform for the sponsors of the school.
%%* OldFriend
* OneSteveLimit: Averted, one of the children is named Clément.
* ParentalAbandonment: Morhange due to his difficult behaviour and that his single mother can't make ends meet and has to constantly work.
* ParentalSubstitute: Mathieu to Pépinot
-->'''Violette:''' ''You haven't got any children?''
-->'''Mathieu:''' ''No. Well, I have 60.''
* PlotTriggeringDeath: Morhange's mother dies in the beginning, so he comes back home and Pépinot can give him Mathieu's diary.
* PosthumousCharacter: Mathieu. Morhange reads his diary after his death and his story is told via {{Flashback}}s.
%%* PunchClockVillain: Rachin and Chabert
* SaveOurStudents: Fond de l'Etang is a school for delinquent boys. Mathieu is a new supervisor. At first, the children do not respect him, but he finally gets the appreciation of all of them, except Mondain. When he has to leave, all write thank you messages. One of the boys, Morhange, will have successful career thanks to him.
* TheRemake: Of the 1945 film 'La Cage aux rossignols' ('A Cage of Nightingales').
* TeacherParentRomance: Mathieu falls in love with Morhange's mother, which is uncomfortable for Morhange, who throws ink on Mathieu when he speaks with his mother.
* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler: Rachin at the end of the film, after [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech Mathieu tells Rachin what he thinks of him]]. He responds the same way, only a lot more childishly and frustrated.]]
* WealthyPhilanthropist: Fond de l'Etang receives funds from a rich woman. The choir give a concert for her.
* WholeEpisodeFlashback: Morhange receives Clément Mathieu's diary in the beginning and the bulk of the film consists of the events depicted in this diary, which happened some 50 years ago.
----

* ChekhovsGun: "My parents are coming for me on Saturday." Said by the orphaned Pépinot, despite visiting days not being on Saturday. [[spoiler: Then Mathieu adopts him after he gets fired. When was he fired? On a Saturday.]]

* HiddenDepths: Mathieu originally believes Chabert to be a strong supporter of Rachin's policies, but he is quickly revealed to be a genial, decent guy who helps Mathieu with his choir.

* MeaningfulName: [[AllLovingHero The only teacher who tries to help/forgive/accept]] the boys at the school has a name that means 'merciful' (''Clément'' Mathieu).

* SaveOurStudents: ''Fond de l'Etang'' is a school for delinquent boys. Mathieu is a new supervisor. At first, the children do not respect him, but he finally gets the appreciation of all of them, except Mondain. When he has to leave, all write thank you messages. One of the boys, Morhange, will have successful career thanks to him.

* WealthyPhilanthropist: ''Fond de l'Etang'' receives funds from a rich woman. The choir give a concert for her.

Rewind back to 1949. Clément Mathieu, a failed musician, accepts a post at 'Fond de l'Etang' ('Rock Bottom'), a school for delinquent boys. Horrified both by their behaviour and the brutally repressive methods of headmaster Rachin, he begins to teach his class music as a way to get their attention. It... doesn't all go according to plan.

* BlitheSpirit: Clément Mathieu, a failed musician, arrives in a school where there is a vicious cricle of malfeasances by the pupils and harsh punishments by the headmaster. He will shake things up thanks to music.

''Les Choristes'' (literally "The Choristers", translated as ''The Chorus'') is a 2004 French-language film.

Rewind back to 1949. Clément Mathieu, a failed musician, accepts a post at '[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Fond de l'Etang]]' ('Rock Bottom'), a school for delinquent boys. Horrified both by their behaviour and the brutally repressive methods of headmaster Rachin, he begins to teach his class music as a way to get their attention. It... doesn't all go according to plan.

* FramingDevice: The bulk of the story (Mathieu's stay at Fond de l'Étang in the late 1940's) is framed by the sotry of the adult Morhange who reads Clément Mathieu's diary.

->''See upon your path''
->''Children forgotten and lost''
->''Give them your hand''
->''To lead them''
->''To other tomorrows.''

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:When the school burns down, Mathieu is out of a job, having recently been told the woman he loves is with another man (who the viewer is told leaves her shortly afterwards). The only thing stopping it from being a total Downer is the audience's knowledge of Morhange's future.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:When the school burns down, Mathieu is out of a job, having recently been told the woman he loves is with another man (who the viewer is told leaves her shortly afterwards). The only thing stopping it from being a total Downer is the audience's knowledge of Morhange's future and the CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming that occurs in the last few moments.]]

* MistakenForPedophile: The kids steal Mathieu's musical scores. They hide in the toilet to have a look at them. Mathieu notices it and go into the toilet to get back his scores. Then, Chabert enters the toilet and tells Mathieu that he wants none of that here.

* FramingDevice: The bulk of the story (Clément Mathieu's work at Fond de l'Étang in the late 1940's) is frames by the sotry of the adult Morhange who reads Clément Mathieu's diary.