Toeing The Chorus Line

Franco-cinephiles may well recall a scene in the 1992 film, La Discrete, wherein a caddish Fabrice Luchini turns up at a train station to meet and dump his lover, played by the smoldering Marie Bunel. In the event, she descends to the platform, new paramour in tow, and marches coldly by before he gets the chance.

In The Chorus, the recently Oscar nominated film from France, Ms. Bunel essays a rather more benevolent sort of heartbreaker. Based on the little-seen La Cage Des Nightingales, Christopher Barratier's film centers on a school for troubled kids enlivened by the presence of a kindly music teacher. Marie plays the mother of the teacher's favourite nightingale and she quickly becomes the object of his affections.

An abashedly sweet film, The Chorus works as something of an antidote to the cinematic extremes of recent French fare.

'It was a beautiful role," says Marie, speaking from Paris. 'She was so full of loneliness and happiness. It is never difficult with such a part. But as an actor you want a rich cinema with lots of variety. You want opportunities to stretch in different directions."

Despite her involvement in such a musical project and previous work as a music supervisor for the 1987 film Blind Date, Marie sadly reports that her capacity for music is not all it ought to be – "I'm not at all musical I'm afraid, but one of the things I loved about doing The Chorus was that Christopher Barratier directed the film like he was conducting an orchestra. Acting can be just like using an instrument - in the way you use your voice or move - and Christopher understands this and we became like instruments in this greater piece."

Though The Chorus is populated by choirs of adorable ragamuffins, Marie never really got to test out that old adage about working with children and animals – "I only had scenes with the boy playing my son, so I never ended up on set with lots of children running around." She has, however, gained legions of new young fans, and a few older ones besides, since The Chorus became a huge box-office hit in France.

"As an actor, it is lovely to get feedback from your work," explains Marie. "On a stage that's an immediate thing, but it's special when people recognize you on the street."

Surprisingly, despite her fine acting resume built on smart, sophisticated performances in films such as La Vie En Rose, Arsene Lupin, Les Miserables and Story Of Women, Madame Bunel is less than thrilled by the range of roles for women in contemporary French cinema.

"People say there are no roles for women in Hollywood, but I think there are interesting things happening at the moment if you are an American based actress. In France, I think for every ten types of male roles, there is one type of female role. It is very limiting."

Ah yes, but surely they have the best auteurs?

"This is true, but even great directors like Chabrol can make bad films. There are no guarantees. So you must keep happy by doing interesting work with as much variety as possible."

Vive la difference, as they say.

The Chorus is released on April 29th.