Les Choristes/The Chorus (2004)

I had expected this French film to be overly manipulative in wringing an emotional response from the viewer, but this was not as it happens a bad thing and my reaction to the film felt both real and moving.  A big hit in France and an Oscar contender, it is the story of how the new principal at a school for awkward boys (not quite a reform school) manages to break through their hostility to the school's staff and the world through the magic of music.  As played by Gerard Jugnot -- a veteran of many films but a new name to me -- a physically uncharismatic man managed to reach all but the hardest nuts with his warmth and sincerity.  And the music!  I shudder to think what an American remake might employ, but here we were given the sound of angels.  While his time at the school was brief, his influence on the main characters is the stuff of legends and goes a long way to re-instating one's faith in humanity.