In 1940s France, a new teacher at a school for disruptive boys gives hope and inspiration.
Acting
Gérard Jugnot's quietly devastating performance as the failed dreamer.
Score
The Saint-Maurice choir will wreck you. Those boy soprano notes!
Cinematography
Golden-hour French countryside that makes suffering look almost beautiful.
Director
Christophe Barratier
Gérard Jugnot
Clément Mathieu
François Berléand
Rachin
Kad Merad
Chabert
Jean-Paul Bonnaire
Father Maxence
Marie Bunel
Violette Morhange
Jean-Baptiste Maunier
Pierre Morhange
Maxence Perrin
Pépinot
Thomas Blumenthal
Corbin
Philippe du Janerand
Mr. Langlois
Carole Weiss
Countess
Erick Desmarestz
Doctor Dervaux
Didier Flamand
Pépinot adult
Jacques Perrin
Pierre Morhange adult
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The film draws heavily from the 1945 French film 'La Cage aux Rossignols,' which director Barratier discovered as a child. The 1940s setting deliberately evokes Vichy France, adding political weight to the authoritarian boarding school.
Jean-Baptiste Maunier was cast as Pierre after the director spotted him in a school choir video. He had zero acting experience, which explains why his awkwardness reads as authentic adolescent longing.
FR
