The Marching Band
Release date: 2024-11-27
Votes: 413
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Music
Diagnosed with leukemia, a successful orchestra conductor learns that he is adopted, and his younger brother is in a village marching band. The conductor decides to help them win a regional contest.
Reviews
CinemaSerf
“Thibaut” (Benjamin Lavernhe) is an accomplished conductor who is now based in the USA but who comes home to France now and again to perform. It’s during one such visit that he confides to his sister “Rose” (Mathilde Courcol-Rozés) that he needs a bone-marrow transplant. She readily agrees to help out but when she is found to be incompatible, that news opens quite a can of worms that results in him having to ask “Jimmy” (Pierre Lottin) - a brother he didn’t know he had and who lives in a quietly dying town where his workplace is earmarked for closure, to help out. Initially uninterested and disbelieving, the film now illustrates just how the two men come to terms with their past, their present and (hopefully) their future against a backdrop of resentment and privilege as they try to reconcile with the elements of “luck of the draw” that have governed their lives thus far. Fortunately, they have one thing in common. They both love music, and as it transpires that “Jimmy” plays trombone in his local mineworkers band we have a conduit for them to bond - or not! There are shades of “Brassed Off” (1996) as this offers us a social commentary on the decline of traditional rural industries that leave little by way of hope or opportunity in it’s wake; a little bit of romance and some seriously horrible uniforms too! Along the way, there is also some fine classical Mozart, some crooning from Charles Aznavour and some enjoyable band rehearsals with an eclectic collection of the townsfolk proving remarkably talented with instrument and voice alike - after a soupçon of guidance. No, there probably isn’t so much jeopardy about the denouement, though there is a twist - it’s really a story about family and one that’s presented without too much sentiment and a bit of enjoyably bloody-minded Gallic humour. I was never quite sure what an orchestral conductor actually did, standing there flailing his baton at a collection of perfectly proficient musicians, but this might just have helped explain a little - and that seating matters too!
Movie Recommendation
The Divine Sarah Bernhardt2024-12-181915, Sarah Bernhardt is the world's first star. Free. Modern. Divine. Eccentric. Visionary... Between legend and fantasy, Sarah Bernhardt tells us the love story that marked her life.More...
A Missing Part2024-11-13Every day, Jay travels the length and breadth of Tokyo in his taxi, looking for his daughter Lily. In the 9 years since he has separated from his wife, he has never been able to get custody of his daughter. Having given up hope of ever seeing her again, he is about to move back to France when Lily hops in his cab. But she doesn't recognize him.More...
Maria Montessori2023-11-05Set in 1900, Lili d’Alengy, a Parisian cocotte at the height of her fame, flees Paris to hide her “idiot” daughter. There she meets Maria Montessori, who is pioneering a teaching method that may help the child.More...
Three Friends2024-11-06Joan is no longer in love with Victor, but it pains her to feel she is being dishonest with him. Alice, her best friend, reassures her: She herself doesn’t feel passionate about her partner Eric and yet their relationship is smooth sailing. She has no idea he is having an affair with Rebecca, their mutual friend. When Joan finally decides to leave Victor and he disappears, the lives of the three friends and their relationships are turned upside down.More...
Prodigies2024-11-20Claire and Jeanne are twin sisters, united by the same passion: the piano. Coached by their father like athletes, they join the prestigious Karlsruhe Conservatory. They are now competing to be soloists and training for a concert that will make or break their careers. But Claire and then Jeanne discover they are suffering from a serious illness and are slowly losing the use of their hands. With the support of their family and their undying love of music, they will find a unique way to change their fate. An inspiring and moving tale, based on a true story.More...
Loveable2024-09-19Maria finds herself at a crossroads when her husband suddenly announces that he wants to end their relationship. She must either let her whole world come crashing down, or come to terms with the life she has and find a way forward.More...
La Fille d'un grand amour2025-01-08Ana and Yves loved each other passionately, then parted ways. Years later, their daughter Cécile made a documentary about their meeting. They meet again. Still scarred by their past love, they set out to find a way back to each other.More...
100 Million!2025-03-26A printing house worker and union leader inherits EUR100m, but the windfall costs him his job and puts his marriage at risk.More...
Almost Legal2024-07-17Just out of their studies, Félix and Vincent are two young broken hands from the Atlantic coast who are struggling to find their place in the world of work... and in life in general. The two friends decide to clandestinely transform a small neighborhood grocery store into a nighttime business during the holidays. Helped by a team of specialists recruited for the occasion, they will keep the store running, until the real owner of the convenience store and the police start to smell something wrong...More...
Enzo2025-06-18A 16-year-old boy who defies his bourgeois family’s expectations by starting a masonry apprenticeship where he meets a charismatic Ukrainian colleague who shakes up his world.More...
Winter in Sokcho2025-01-08In the snowy seaside town of Sokcho, 25-year-old Soo-Ha works at a guesthouse. She drifts between her mother’s fish stall and her boyfriend until a French artist’s arrival stirs questions about her identity. As winter deepens, Soo-Ha and the artist form an unspoken connection through food and art.More...
The Mohican2025-02-12Joseph is one of the last coastal shepherds in Corsica. His land is coveted by the underworld for a real estate project but he chooses not to give in. When he leaves the man who came to intimidate him, the godfather’s own son, between life and death, he becomes the prey of a merciless hunt.More...
The Strawberry Statement1970-08-28A college student joins a group of revolutionaries to meet girls but ends up committed to their goals.More...
Hello, Love, Again2024-11-13Five years on from when Joy said goodbye to Ethan and Hong Kong to pursue her dreams in Canada. After fighting for their love to conquer the time, distance and a global shutdown that kept them apart, Joy and Ethan meet again in Canada but realize that they have also changed a lot, individually.More...
Dofus - Book I: Julith2016-02-03The strange little guy in the blue hood is well known to Krosmoz. His name is Joris and he's proposing to take you on a fantastic adventure. Our hero is leading a happy life in his magic shop in the city of Bonta. But one day, when he seeks out his idol, a Gobbowl superstar, everything changes for the worst as Julith, the vengeful witch, is back in town!More...
Fais pas ci, fais pas ça - On va marcher sur la Lune2024-12-05There is no descriptionMore...
Belle and Sebastian: Next Generation2022-10-1910-year-old Sebastien reluctantly spends his vacation in the mountains with his grandmother and aunt. Helping them with the sheep is hardly an exciting prospect for a city boy like him - but that is without considering his encounter with Belle, a huge dog mistreated by her owner. Ready to do anything to fight injustice and to protect his new-found friend, Sebastien will spend the craziest summer of his life.More...
Il suffit d’écouter les femmes2025-01-14"Il suffit d'écouter les femmes": these famous words were pronounced by Simone Veil when she defended her law on abortion, in 1974, before the National Assembly. For the first time, women who have used a clandestine abortion in France before 1975 evoke their painful, release or traumatic experience. These moving testimonies make it possible to discover the incredible diversity of the means employed, the dangers incurred, the participation of children, the role of men, that of doctors, sometimes even the violence committed on women.More...
It Happens2024-11-27In a police station in the 1st arrondissement of Marseille, three investigators, two men and a woman, face the stories of rapes which are perpetrated daily in the Phocaean city. Every day, they receive victims of all ages, genders and social backgrounds. Every day, they bring their professionalism to the service of this colorful brigade, where drama rubs shoulders with humor, and darkness with hope.More...
Marmaille2024-12-04Thomas, a 15-year-old from Réunion, dreams of winning a breakdance contest and moving to mainland France. When his mother abruptly throws him and his sister Audrey out, they’re placed with an estranged father and forced to fend for themselves. The film follows the siblings as they confront abandonment and try to rebuild their lives, with dance as Thomas’s way to cope and push forward.More...
Similar Movies
Rumble Fish
1983-10-09Absent-minded street thug Rusty James struggles to live up to his legendary older brother's reputation, and longs for the days of gang warfare.Soldier of Orange
1977-09-22The lives of Erik Lanshof and five of his closest friends take different paths when the German army invades the Netherlands in 1940: fight and resistance, fear and resignation, collaboration and high treason.A Singing Girl
1942-03-09A girl (Alice Babs) from the country moves to Stockholm to become a singer.My Zombabe
2024-01-10Due to a zombie apocalypse, Pong is the loneliest man on the planet. This all changes when Yasmin turns up, a beautiful woman in the process of zombifying.The Straight Story
1999-10-15A retired farmer and widower in his 70s, Alvin Straight learns one day that his distant brother Lyle has suffered a stroke and may not recover. Alvin is determined to make things right with Lyle while he still can, but his brother lives in Wisconsin, while Alvin is stuck in Iowa with no car and no driver's license. Then he hits on the idea of making the trip on his old lawnmower, thus beginning a picturesque and at times deeply spiritual odyssey.The Wrath Within Merc...
2023-05-02In the early days of a now lawless, post-apocalyptic world, a small group sheltering in a remote cabin must navigate a harrowing choice that will define who they are as their unforgiving new reality tests them with the ultimate moral dilemma: to act as judge, jury, and possibly executioner.Léolo
1992-09-16The story of an imaginative boy who pretends he is the child of a sperm-laden Sicilian tomato upon which his mother accidentally fell.The Groomsmen
2006-06-09Blue-collar Paulie prepares for fatherhood and his forthcoming wedding to Sue by hanging out with his groomsmen. Brother Jimbo, cousin Mike, and his pals fill the reunion with drinking, boys-will-be-boys antics and a few unexpected personal confessions. But, when the bonding devolves into accusations and regret, Paulie has to decide whether he's ready to tie the knot and take this big step into adulthood.Rams
2020-10-15In remote Western Australia, two estranged farmer brothers, Colin and Les, are at war. But when Les' prize ram is diagnosed with a rare and lethal illness, authorities order a purge of every sheep in the valley—so the brothers must work together to reunite their family, save their herd, and bring their community back together.A Better Tomorrow
1986-08-02A reforming ex-gangster tries to reconcile with his estranged policeman brother, but the ties to his former gang are difficult to break.Dead Again
1991-08-23In 1949, composer Roman Strauss is executed for the murder of his wife. In 1990s Los Angeles, a detective comes across a mute amnesiac woman who is somehow linked to the Strauss murder.Sabrina
1995-12-15Sabrina Fairchild, a chauffeur's daughter, grew up at the Long Island estate of the wealthy Larrabee family enchanted with their sparkling world of privilege and wealth, but she's especially enamored of younger son David, a charming playboy. After the once plain Sabrina returns from a sojourn in Paris transformed into a glamorous young woman, she at long last catches David's eye. In a calculated effort to manipulate David away from her and into a more financially advantageous marriage, formidable older brother Linus devises a plan to keep them apart.Khadari
2024-02-09An aspiring wrestler becomes torn between his loyalty to his gangster brother and his burgeoning love for a fellow university student.Bullet
1996-03-01A tough, Jewish ex-con just released from prison crosses a powerful drug dealer and former prison rival in his return to a life of crime.My Brother's Shoes
2015-09-15Dallas, a successful executive with a beautiful wife, dreams of having a family, while his gay brother Austin dreams of winning a local drag show. By a twist of fate, the brothers switch bodies and have to see how the other lives.American Pie Presents...
2005-11-23Everyone has 'moved on', except for Sherman and Jim Levenstein's still understanding father. Little Matt Stiffler wants to join his older brother Steve's business and, after everything Matt has heard from Jim's band-geek wife, he plans to go back to band camp and make a video of his own.What the Fly !?
2014-09-04A lizard conductor leads his symphony orchestra when suddenly he encounters a noise that disturbs the course of his majestic work.The Work and the Glor...
2005-10-21Divided by their diverse reactions to a nascent ideology, the Steeds struggle to hold together as the strength of their convictions and their filial bonds are tested. The stirring narrative of the faith that led a persecuted people to Missouri and beyond is one of the most poignant untold tales of American history. It is the account of a valiant struggle to exercise the rights promised by a fledgling nation.Hot Rod
2007-08-03For Rod Kimble, performing stunts is a way of life, even though he is rather accident-prone. Poor Rod cannot even get any respect from his stepfather, Frank, who beats him up in weekly sparring matches. When Frank falls ill, Rod devises his most outrageous stunt yet to raise money for Frank's operation -- and then Rod will kick Frank's butt.Ram Bharose
1977-01-01Refusing to follow his corrupt brother's bad example, a sincere, honest but buffoonish police cadet helps to rout a gang of organised criminals who are involved in treachery, kidnapping and murder.