Film - Chorus

Chris Smith heads for Raindance and watches the haunting Chorus...

Losing a child is the hardest thing a parent can ever experience, except maybe losing a child and never know what happened to them. Hugo, the 8 year old son of Irene and Christophe vanished in 2003. Now, a decade later and after the confession of a paedophile, they might finally discover the truth but first they must re-count after 10 years apart. It is difficult to say which will be harder.

Shot in stark monochrome, Chorus is an uncompromising film about a brutal subject. There are few crimes as vile as the murder of a child but little thought is given to living in the aftermath. Director François Delisle puts the day-to-day struggle of Irene and Christophe front-and-centre. There are no flashbacks to happier times and every tear and every wail of anguish is shown. It's clear that the lives of Hugo's parents stopped when his did. They are nothing more than ghosts.

Other than Irene's performances in the titular chorus, the soundtrack is almost absent. This accentuates the film's bleak tone far more than hearing the confession of Hugo's killer or seeing the boy's remains laid out on a mortuary trolley.

Chorus is a difficult film to watch. It's distressing and heartbreakingly honest; rarely is such terrible grief the sole topic of a film but Delisle offers no empty promises and resists the respite of Hollywood-style reconciliation. This is pure, raw human pain and needs to seen.


Image - Raindance