The Chorus

Christophe Barratier's remake of the 1945 film Cage of Nightingales is a charming, if unexceptional, story about a teacher who inspires the kids of a harsh boarding school to sing for their suppers. But huge box-office success in France, worldwide sales and more than 20 nominations for awards can't be argued with.

Perhaps its very simplicity is what appeals. Gérard Jugnot's new teacher, at once nicknamed Baldy, forms a choir that sings Rameau songs like angels, allowing the boys to discover that life might not only consist of the misery their headmaster has made for them.

Set in the early Fifties, the film believes that those who misbehave are wounded and only need a little metaphorical medical treatment to be cured. Would that it were so easy. Yet The Chorus has a good heart, some nice performances from Jugnot and the boys, and a plot that doesn't stint on sentiment.

Old-fashioned it may be, but it is easy to warm to its characters and its thesis, even if you don't quite believe in either. Many will find comfort in the thought that a good teacher could effect such a change. And the music is great.