香港都會大學

課程名稱： FILM AND POPULAR CULTURE 課程編號： GEN A101BF

作業題目： Individual Essay

學生姓名： Cheung Chun Yu 學生編號： S13132697

導修組別： T21

聯絡電郵： [email protected] 聯絡電話： 5579 9659

學生聲明

本人在此聲明，除附註所引資料，此作業所有內容皆由本人原創，也無不道德及不誠實使用 AI 工具，亦無轉載本人於此
大學（或其他曾修讀學院）曾提交的任何作業部分或全部文字。本人深明學科嚴禁學生抄襲作業，如有違反，願意接受本
學系處分。

總括而言，本作業並無使用 AI 工具。
本作業有使用 AI 工具，本人將在下頁聲明有關使用 AI 來源。
*請在加上剔號

學生簽名： Cheung Chun Yu

遞交日期： 2023/12/1

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(示例：
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應使用以下措辭方式。
 以下提示輸入到<AI 系統>中： <列出提示>

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 我對輸出進行了以下更改： <解釋所採取的操作>

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(示例:
OpenAI, ChatGPT, 15Feb 2023, https://chat.openai.com/APA example:)
Plot Abstract

The French drama film "The Chorus (2014)" (original title: "Les Choristes") is starts with a

“montage” flash back of our two of our main character “Pierre and Pépinot”. Pierre was

approached by his longtime buddy Pepino who was carrying a diary which it belonged to

Clement Mathieu, a middle-aged musician Clément Mathieu, who accepts a position as a

supervisor at the boarding school Fond de L'Étang. And the story starts.

Mathieu, the main character of this story, introduces the boys to the realm of music after

seeing that the kids are not bad in nature, just require direction and encouragement. He

organizes a choir and starts instructing them in singing. Mathieu fosters the boys' feeling of

purpose through his kindness, patience, and love of music. Leading them to find their faith in

life.

At the end of the story, Mathieu were forced to leave the school, but he takes Pepino with

him. This “call back” to the beginning explain why Pepino knows Mathieus’ dead and has his

diary. And when Mathieu takes him, it a Saturday, which Pepinos’ parent promise when they

will take him out the school. And gives audience an answer that the child that Mathieu

cultivate has success. This create a macro perspective, like accompanying the characters

through a period of his life, which is more resonant.

Motif and film language

The Motif of "The Chorus" is the ability of music to alter. Music appears frequently in the
movie as a sign of harmony, hope, and healing. For the boys at the boarding school, it serves

as a catalyst for positive transformation and personal development. Inside this movie, there

are four songs that outlines the main films’ languages, which arousing sentiments of

happiness, sorrow, and nostalgia. The boys' voices harmonizing is one of the sound effects

that adds to the emotional and immersive experience of the film. They are “Vois sur ton

chemin” the theme song, “la nuit”, “cerf-volant”, and “Caresse sur l'océan”. These songs both

plays a transition role on shifting the scenery, combining different scene together.

The first time when theme songs appear is when Mathieu walks into noisy living room and

they are using violate songs to laughed at him, although the songs sound bad even out of tune,

the freedom and happiness they showed draws Mathieus’ attention, and inspiration are

followed. In that night, Mathieu start to plan to form a chorus, and that when theme song

started. The song starts with intertwined of piano and harp, and when Strings joins in, the

rhythm become brighter, make the audience feels Mathieu’s’ Optimistic. This song later

become the rhythm of child’s chorus, frequently appear in different parts of the film to assume

the role of “montage”. For example, in here, it used to transition to the scene that Maxence

being carry out by stretcher. The lyrics “Vois sur ton chemin, Gamins oubliés égarés, Donne

leur la main, pour les mener, Vers d'autres lendemains” brings out the the motif of this movie,

see a lost kid, give them a hand, lead them towards other tomorrows. And also used as flim

language to show hope, passion and love.

In the scene where Mathieu notice Violette Morhange, the single mother of Pierre, have fall in

love with an engineer, he was very disappointed, and at that time Pierre was also behave

badly. At that night, the song “Caresse Sur L'océan” start with a lower key instrument

“Clarinet and French Horn” with harps’ accompaniment, the gentle tone express Mathieu lose

inside his heart. This represents the gap between reality and ideal, and makes audience feels

the child and choir become Mathieus’ focus of life.

Next song “Cerf-volant” appear in the end of the movie, where he was fired by the principal.

He thought he will leave lonely, but when he walks to the gate, paper airplane with farewell

words flew down, this beautiful song also floated in the air. The three-beat waltz and the

heartfelt farewell at this moment created a strong contrast and juxtaposition, turning the

sadness of this farewell ceremony into warmth. The principal's angry shouts were no longer

able to suppress the children's singing, and Matthew, as a teacher, was able to fully embody

the meaning of his existence and enjoy happiness to the fullest. And the film ends with an ode

to the passion for life and a celebration of the light of hope.

For the background music, it is also use as a film language. The nervous, cramped song

“L’lncendie” always appear when something bad happened or about to happen. For example,

in the school there is a cruel and tyrannical headmaster, Rachin, who always punish his

students by force, and from the movie there’s a famous quote that represent the tight and
hostile atmosphere in there, “action, reaction”, when he executes this ideology, this music

starts to make a sound. And when near the end of the movie, Mondain, A mentally ill child

who is considered unteachable, smile evilly to the camera, foreshadows the fire of school is

set by him. And “L’lncendie” here plays an “ambiance music” role to portray suspenseful

atmosphere inside movie.

Identity and role

Is an identity referring simply to a social category, a set of persons marked by a label and

distinguished by rules deciding membership and (alleged) characteristic features or attributes.

(Lau, 2023). This identity also is defined by themselves and are defined by others. (Deng

1995, 1). Within this context, Mondain was a symbolic character that represent the failure of

the education system that time. He was being seen as psychologically disorder, antisociality,

and with time passes, he constantly constructing an identity by himself and others that he is

problematic. Maybe he is not in nature, but because of long time isolation this role being

perpetuated. According to role theory, “we think of ourselves as “actor””, plays accordingly.

And lastly these identities become “relatively stable, role-specific understandings and

expectations about self” (Wendt 1992, 397).

Conclusion
The film delves into themes related to redemption, the influence of music, and the importance

of mentoring. It depicts the boys' hardships and victories while emphasizing the value of a

kind and encouraging teacher. The boys discover friendship, hope, and a feeling of

community via music, which ultimately motivates them to overcome their own obstacles. To

It reveals a truth that there are no bad students, only teachers who don't know how to teach.

"The Chorus" won praise from critics for its moving narrative, superb acting, and exquisite

score, it impacted audiences all over the world and was nominated for an Academy Award for

Best Foreign Language Film.

Total words: 1150 words

 References

Deng, F. M. (1996). Identity in Africa's internal conflicts. American Behavioral Scientist, 40(1), 46-65.

Lau, F. K.-Y. (2023a). Film and Popular Culture: Lecture 6 [PDF]. Hong

Kong Metropolitan University.

Wendt, A. (1992). Anarchy is what states make of it: the social construction of power

politics. International organization, 46(2), 391-425.