The chief attractions of this 1950s period piece about a world-renowned symphony conductor and his trip down memory lane are the charming choral music, fine performances, and the elegant cinematography. Music and its healing, creative powers drive this reminiscence of childhood. However slim on originality, it is beautiful to hear and to look at, telling the familiar story of a teacher who made a difference and changed the course of several lives.

The story is a flashback of famous Parisian conductor Pierre Morhange (Jacques Perrin). When he receives word that his mother has died, he returns for her funeral to the village where he attended a reform school for boys fifty years earlier. As he sorts through his mother’s things, an old schoolmate unexpectedly knocks on the door and presents Morhange with a diary written five decades earlier by the boys’ unassuming music teacher, Clément Mathieu (Gerard Jugnot). The frustrated musician had taken the teaching job after failing at previous musical pursuits, and came to the austere school for troubled adolescent boys ill prepared for the harsh atmosphere. The gentle man formed a choir to impose order and to lighten the brutality of the daily load of the students. He became instrumental in developing the great conductor’s musical gift.

As they read the old diary, the former classmates recall their time at the school and relive the events of the long ago single semester when Monsieur Mathieu came to teach. Some plot points don’t quite make sense, such as that the famous conductor would not at first quite remember this pivotal turning point in his life and career, nor the music teacher who made it possible. Others work better, such as an understated subplot about Morhange’s lovely mother, Violette (Marie Bunel), and the unrequited love the teacher had for her. Reminiscent at its best of "My Mother’s Castle," the structure provides an engaging departure point for the music and the memories, resonating with the bittersweet flavor of getting lost in the pentimento of the past. With all the requisite elements of the formula, including the hardened bad boy, the corrupt headmaster, and the triumphant moment, nevertheless, the refined production and some original music from director Christophe Barratier makes it worthwhile viewing. A deeply personal work for Barratier, as he mined his own childhood for some of the characters and details.