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Favorite actor, favorite movie. Of. All. Time.
And it's in French :)
Les Choristes, 2004, is about the students at the correctional boys' school Fond de l'Etang in 1949. At the beginning of the movie--50 years after the main movie takes place--Pierre Morhange is visited by an old classmate, Bébert Pépinot. He has the diary of their teacher, Clément Mathieu, a failed musician.
When M. Mathieu arrives at Fond de l'Etang, he sees a young boy waiting at the gates. This is Pépinot. His parents were killed in WWII and he will not accept the fact, saying that his father is coming for him on a Saturday and he will leave with him. (Remember this. It's important.) In the school, Headmaster Rachin is punishing multiple boys for misconduct, but Mathieu tries to win them over and be the good guy. He immediately sees that this doesn't work, as Maxence, the caretaker, is badly hurt by a prank. Mathieu knows who did it, but instead of punishing him the way Rachin wanted him to, he keeps it a secret and encourages him to help the caretaker recover.
One day, Mathieu hears the boys singing rude songs about him. He decides that if they want to sing, they will sing something good. He forms a choir with all of the boys in the school--all but two, Morhange and Pépinot. Pépinot is very shy, and Morhange refuses to sing. Later, Mathieu discovers Morhange singing to himself when he is alone, and sees an opportunity for a soloist.
(How could you not?! His voice...oh my god...he just emits rays of sunshine from his mouth...)
After a while, the students at Fond de l'Etang are much happier. They are becoming friends with one another and M. Mathieu finally feels like he is successful. Meanwhile, he is in love with Pierre Morhange's mother (of course there's an intertwined romance in there...) but it doesn't work out.
Then the school burns.
And Mathieu is fired.
He didn't do it, of course. But he's still fired, because Headmaster Rachin is still a jerk. The boys are forbidden to say goodbye to their teacher, so they lock themselves in a classroom (the fire is out by now, obviously, and the school is fine) and throw paper airplanes out the window, singing the music they were taught. (By this point I was already in tears. You will be too, I promise.)
Although the boys are all in the school, Pépinot gets out and runs after Mathieu. He wants to come with him. Mathieu says he has to stay here, where he belongs, and boards the bus to leave. When the bus is halfway down the road, and little Pépinot is in tears, Mathieu tells the driver to turn around, and Pépinot leaves with him.
Then, Mathieu says, "Pépinot was right. His parents did come for him on a Saturday."
Mathieu isn't his actual dad, of course, but he is now. <3
One day, Mathieu hears the boys singing rude songs about him. He decides that if they want to sing, they will sing something good. He forms a choir with all of the boys in the school--all but two, Morhange and Pépinot. Pépinot is very shy, and Morhange refuses to sing. Later, Mathieu discovers Morhange singing to himself when he is alone, and sees an opportunity for a soloist.
(How could you not?! His voice...oh my god...he just emits rays of sunshine from his mouth...)
After a while, the students at Fond de l'Etang are much happier. They are becoming friends with one another and M. Mathieu finally feels like he is successful. Meanwhile, he is in love with Pierre Morhange's mother (of course there's an intertwined romance in there...) but it doesn't work out.
Then the school burns.
And Mathieu is fired.
He didn't do it, of course. But he's still fired, because Headmaster Rachin is still a jerk. The boys are forbidden to say goodbye to their teacher, so they lock themselves in a classroom (the fire is out by now, obviously, and the school is fine) and throw paper airplanes out the window, singing the music they were taught. (By this point I was already in tears. You will be too, I promise.)
Although the boys are all in the school, Pépinot gets out and runs after Mathieu. He wants to come with him. Mathieu says he has to stay here, where he belongs, and boards the bus to leave. When the bus is halfway down the road, and little Pépinot is in tears, Mathieu tells the driver to turn around, and Pépinot leaves with him.
Then, Mathieu says, "Pépinot was right. His parents did come for him on a Saturday."
Mathieu isn't his actual dad, of course, but he is now. <3
Rachin is the man to the left of the bottom row. Pépinot is in the middle of that row, and Mathieu stands on the other end. Above him is Maxence, the caretaker. In the third row, two boys over from Maxence, is Jean-Baptiste Mauier. Yay!
And Pépinot, because he's adorable:
So anyway. That's that. Go watch the movie.
I love you, JBM.
#JamesBond
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