Watch The Chorus

The Chorus is a French movie from 2005 known in France by its original title, Les Choristes. The Chorus is set in a severely strict all-male boarding school and follows the lives of the young boys attending during the period when a new teacher arrives. The philosophy of the school is based on the belief that music and discipline in strict doses will positively affect these boys’ lives.

The boys who attend this boarding reform school called La Fond de L’Etage, which literally translates from French into English as Rock Bottom, are all convicted delinquent boys with aggressive behaviors and defiant attitudes. The headmaster of La Fond de L’Etage is named Rachin. Rachin’s dictatorial supervision of the boys makes their lives miserable.

Forms of punishment are often severe and excessive. On one occasion, Ranchin is seen paddling a boy as a form of punishment. Ranchin strikes the boy so severely that the boy’s body jerks back with each blow. On multiple occasions, Ranchin sends boys he is punishing into dark cells and locks them in for what he tells the boy will be up to two weeks as punishment for stealing. Ranchin locks up another boy for wrestling with one of his peers.

But Rauchin’s tight reins are tugged on when the new music teacher, Clement Mathieu, arrives. Monsieur Mathieu has a different philosophy than Rauchin about what methods are the best to help change the attitudes of these boys. Mathieu fuels his own plan for remolding these boys' lives by rechanneling his own passion that once went to his failed music career into efforts to transform the wayward boys into a synchronized choir.

Rachin responds to Mathieu’s idea with criticism, even when Mathieu’s choir project begins to produce undeniable effects on the boys’ behavior and performance.

Francois Berland stars as Rachin, Gerard Jugnot stars as Monsieur Mathieu, and Kad Merad stars as Chabert. The Concert was directed and co-written by Christophe Barratier.

The Chorus is a 2005 drama with a runtime of 1 hour and 36 minutes. It has received moderate reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 7.8 and a MetaScore of 56.