“The film of my childhood”, twenty years later Les Choristes returns to the cinema

Like a childhood memory that resurfaces, the film Les Choristes returns to theaters from April 10, 2024. For its twentieth anniversary, the production of Christophe Barratier, which has accumulated seven million admissions in France, is being released up to date in a higher definition version.

The beautiful eyes of Morhange, played by Jean-Baptiste Maunier, did not leave many people indifferent. Clément Mathieu, played by Gérard Jugnot, recalls this professor loved by all. Unemployed, the latter accepts a position as a music teacher in a re-education boarding school for minors whose repressive system is headed by director Rachin. Through music, Clément Mathieu offers his protégés a breath of freedom.

Carried by the choir and the powerful voice of Morhange, the film shot in Auvergne delivers a deeply human, unpretentious message. Released on March 17, 2004, it beat Spider-man 2, Shrek 2 and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. He was nominated eight times for the César du cinéma in 2005, winning for best music and best sound.

Its distribution will be handled by Pathé Films, which announced the news in a press release. “We like images linked to childhood, to first emotions. Later, the memory of the events experienced during this learning of life takes on its full importance. Nothing was therefore trivial. Fleeting joys, inconsolable sorrows, everything passes but nothing is erased.”

The announcement quickly spread on social networks. It must be said that the music from the film Vois sur ton chemin has never been forgotten. Its remixed version has been used several hundred thousand times in videos on the social network Tiktok. The original music was produced by the Saint-Marc choir in Lyon. The title had met with worldwide success. “We have become a diamond record with more than a million copies sold,” Choir leader Nicolas Porte reports to France 3. Today music still crosses borders: South Korea, China, in February 45 dates were already scheduled.

Many Internet users consider it “the film of [their] childhood”. The 4K quality version which will be released on April 10 is eagerly awaited by some. Other Internet users believe that the film has not aged a bit in 20 years and do not want to see French cinema “standing still”. According to Media, the production company Galatea Films is working on an adaptation of the film in six episodes of around fifty minutes for TF1. The series could be released in 2025.