The Chorus

Nominated for a best foreign film Oscar this year, The Chorus tells of the impact that a lonely teacher, Clement Mathieu (Gerard Jugnot), had on the boys at a tough reform school just after World War II. Asked to educate a group of orphans, delinquents and the odd borderline sociopath in horrendous conditions, Mathieu goes about his job with a even-handiness, pausing only to impress the value of forgiveness upon his young charges. It slowly becomes clear that the overwhelming passion in this man's life is music and he sets about trying to form a choir, telling his disciplinarian boss Rachin (Francois Berleand) that it'll impose some order into the youngsters' lives.

A film which wears its heart on its sleeve; The Chorus operates from a well-worn template - kids overcoming obstacles that a heartless society has saddled them with. Although the director makes no excuses for steering the audience through a minefield of emotional quandaries with the easy to digest characters - impossibly cute boy with no parents; aggressive but talented youngster whose rebellion masks a desire to be loved and a villainous figure of authority - the film's spirit is difficult to dismiss, even if the concept of originality is somewhat in question. Barratier can't resist dousing the proceedings in sentimentality and things get out of control in the final third. But by that stage, the sheer feel-good factor of the exercise will probably have won you over. Well, either that or you'll have left the cinema in despair.