Watch A Cage of Nightingales For Free

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

So much average

Brilliant and touching

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

It is, of course, impossible to discuss this film without acknowledging that had it not provided the central premise of Les Choristes, which was a huge International hit, then it is almost certain it would not have been reissued. Given the success of Les Choristes and the publicity, especially in France, for the reissue I'm surprised that there are only two reviews here on IMDb. Neither is very positive and one, written by a good friend of mine, is largely negative. It isn't the first time we have disagreed about a film and it is very possible that as an Englishman who loves French cinema from Silents to the present day (with the exception of the new wavelet, on which we ARE in agreement) I tend to over-praise it because we see so little of it in England whereas a native Frenchman can see classic French films virtually daily on TV so may well become jaded. Putting it another way, I enjoyed this film; I enjoyed it because virtually the entire cast are completely unknown outside France albeit the female lead appeared in a couple of films like Le Corbeau which WAS screened Internationally but not prominently and thus it gave me a rare chance to savour fine French acting. Apart from the leading character forming a group of unruly schoolboys into a choir the two films have little in common. In 'Cage', the leading man is a frustrated writer whose memoirs, entitled La Cage aux rossignols, are rejected by several publishers and only see the light of day via a plot by his friends. The bulk of the film is a flashback and he already has a fiancée rather than falling in unrequited love with the mother of a pupil as in Les Choristes. I spend a large part of my life seeking out French films from the thirties, forties and to a lesser extent the fifties and when I find one of this quality I am apt to rejoice rather than be too critical.

This movie features a bunch of children locked up in a reform school under a nasty headmaster's thumb;then comes a very nice human supervisor played by Noël-Noël .And presto ,the naughty brats become angels with golden voices who set up a choir ,and the distinguished old ladies who visit the school are on cloud nine ,well,you get the picture.First thing to bear in mind is that these children were professional singers:all of them were part of "les petits chanteurs à la croix de bois" (the little singers with the wooden cross),so do not be fooled,the supervisor is not in any way responsible for their prowesses. Well the plot is not unlike "going my way" ,except that the main actor is not a singer like Bing Crosby.This mushy weepie ,which seems sometimes unbearable -but not more than,say,"dead poets society"-,is typical Occupation cinema ,the likes of "le voile bleu".It's a return to good old morality:individuality is condemned,everyone must be part of the group,the choir becoming a transparent metaphor .The ending in the church is almost sirkesque.Remade (or almost) as "les choristes"