2024 - Les Choristes: why did this film almost never see the light of day?

On the occasion of the broadcast of the cult film Les Choristes on Sunday, December 26, 2021, from 9:05 p.m. on France 2, Télé Star reveals to you why this feature film could never have been shot.

Released in theaters in 2004, the cult film The chorists, worn by Gérard Jugnot, Kad Merad, François Berléand and Jean-Baptiste Maunier, will be rebroadcast on Sunday, December 26, 2021, from 9:05 p.m. on France 2. Directed by Christophe Barratier, this feature film takes place in 1949, and features the character of Clément Mathieu,played on screen by Gérard Jugnot. This jobless music teacher accepts a post as supervisor at a boys’ boarding school named “Bottom of the pond“. The repressive system applied by Director Rachin, performed by François Berléand, upsets Mathieu. By introducing these difficult children to music and choral singing, he will succeed in transforming their daily lives.

This feature film is actually the remake of a film shot by Jean Dréville in 1944, baptized The Nightingale Cage. In the initial project, The chorists was to be shot in Champagne, more precisely at the priory of Binson in Châtillon-sur-Marne. However, in the face of the refusal of Salesian tutelage, the feature film was shot in Auvergne, within the regional natural park Livradois-Forez, but also on the side of the municipalities of Courpière and Ravel, located in the Puy-de-Dôme. The film also allowed the castle of Ravel, which served as a filming location, to acquire greater notoriety, by tripling its annual number of visitors.

The Choristers: non-professional actors to play the children

Furthermore, The chorists was also shot at the Château de la Garde in Albaret-Sainte-Marie in Lozère. Nevertheless, the shooting was almost canceled due to the high temperatures due to the heatwave of summer 2003. In addition, the shots were also compromised by the demonstrations of the intermittents of the show, who stopped work for almost two weeks. In the end everything is back to normal. For the anecdote, Christophe Barratier insisted that young children playing in his movie are not professional actors. He therefore conducted his casting around Clermont-Ferrand. Of the 2,000 children he met, he retained about forty of them.

Loading widget

Subscribe to the Telestar.fr newsletter to receive the latest news free of charge

2/16 –

Gerard JUGNOT
Gérard JUGNOT (Clément Mathieu)
Director: Christophe BARRATIER
The chorists

3/16 –

Gerard JUGNOT
Gérard JUGNOT (Clément Mathieu)
Director: Christophe BARRATIER
The chorists

4/16 –

Gerard JUGNOT
Gérard JUGNOT (Clément Mathieu)
Director: Christophe BARRATIER
The chorists

5/16 –

Simon FARGEOT and Gérard JUGNOT
Simon FARGEOT (Boniface), Gérard JUGNOT (Clément Mathieu)
Director: Christophe BARRATIER
The chorists

6/16 –

Marie BUNEL and Jean-Baptiste MAUNIER
Marie BUNEL (Violette Mohrange), Jean-Baptiste MAUNIER (Pierre Mohrange)
The chorists

7/16 –

Jean Baptiste Maunier
Jean-Baptiste MAUNIER (Pierre Mohrange)
Director: Christophe BARRATIER
The chorists

8/16 –

Thomas BLUMENTHAL, Cyril BERNICOT and Jean-Baptiste MAUNIER
Thomas BLUMENTHAL (Corbin), Cyril BERNICOT (Le Querrec), Jean-Baptiste MAUNIER (Pierre Mohrange)
Director: Christophe BARRATIER
The chorists

9/16 –

Carole WEISS, François BERLÉAND and Gérard JUGNOT
Carole WEISS (La Comtesse), François BERLÉAND (Rachin), Gérard JUGNOT (Clément Mathieu)
Director: Christophe BARRATIER
The chorists

10/16 –

Gérard JUGNOT and Cyril BERNICOT
Gérard JUGNOT (Clément Mathieu), Cyril BERNICOT (Le Querrec)
Director: Christophe BARRATIER
The chorists

11/16 –

François BERLÉAND and Gérard JUGNOT
Gérard JUGNOT (Clément Mathieu), François BERLÉAND (Rachin)
Director: Christophe BARRATIER
The chorists

12/16 –

Kad MERAD, François BERLÉAND and Gérard JUGNOT
Kad MERAD (Chabert), François BERLÉAND (Rachin), Gérard JUGNOT (Clément Mathieu)
Director: Christophe BARRATIER
The chorists