‘The Marching Band’ Plays a Familiar Tune, But With Spirit and Social Awareness

“The Marching Band,” a new French film playing at the Angelika, is an unabashedly unhip melodrama, the kind of feature Hollywood used to make often and effectively. With its story of two men discovering their genetic kinship when one of them is diagnosed with leukemia, the movie represents a modern-day “weepie,” a genre in which intimate drama and the cruelty of fate scrunch together to squeeze out tears. Smartly, director Emmanuel Courcol makes a few updates to the form, like having the leads be men instead of women, with actors Benjamin Lavernhe and Pierre Lottin delivering outstanding performances as the brothers who are strangers to each other. Similar to “Beaches,” starring Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey, the emotional bond that develops over the course of the film between the two very different men transcends its conventionality and corniness.Like that 1988 classic tearjerker, Mr. Courcol integrates humor within his melodramatic setup, refreshing his narrative with bits of social comedy. That one brother, Thibaut, is a highbrow, cosmopolitan conductor, while the other, Jimmy, embodies a working-class trombone player in a small-town marching band adds to its sometimes amusing, sometimes pointed look at contrasting cultures and the class divide. Some of these elements, including the band camaraderie, an upcoming regional competition, and the social realism of scenes set in northern France, may even remind viewers of the 1996 British comedy-drama “Brassed Off.” The music in the latest film, though, is not exclusively of the brass band sort, with timeless classical selections and original orchestral compositions by the French-Armenian composer Michel Petrossian, in particular, proving central to the main characters and the movie’s themes. From the sweeping beauty of Mozart through jazz selections from Benny Golson and the martial rhythms of John Philip Sousa, the soundtrack often underpins the feelings on display, giving the picture, which was a big hit in France, vitality and variation even when the plot is as predictable as a two-step. Mr. Courcol could be said to prepare viewers for the emotional ride to come when, in the first scene, he has Thibaut instruct an orchestra on how to play the soft-loud dynamics of Beethoven’s Egmont overture. Soon he’s fallen from the podium, followed by the film quickly establishing his illness, need for a bone marrow transplant, and his learning of the fact that he was adopted and has a brother. The director leavens the seriousness of these scenes, including one with his adoptive mother about family secrets, with humorous moments. He builds on these as the story goes beyond its medical drama setup and becomes a feel-good movie of musical amateurs and budding brotherhood.Once the older Thibaut goes into remission with the help of Jimmy, the two begin to bond in the latter’s small town, and—wouldn’t you know it—it turns out that his brother is a music connoisseur with perfect pitch as well. From this point on, the plot heads exactly in the direction one would guess, with the marching band losing its conductor and Thibaut stepping in to assist and encourage his brother to learn the craft. Later, the maestro also decides to help workers fighting the closure of a local factory by staging a vocal and orchestral performance of Ravel’s Bolero, informing the skeptical laborers that the piece’s rhythm was inspired by machinery. To say some of these scenes are hokey is putting it mildly, but Mr. Courcol and his screenwriter partner Irène Muscari make sure to include dialogue addressing the former mining town’s economic hardship and even a critique of socialist cynicism.While the growing friendship between Thibaut and Jimmy is engaging, it is the film’s acute awareness of their class differences that, surprisingly, enhances its theme of brotherhood and social solidarity. Frequently, Thibaut’s affluent upbringing and education and Jimmy’s more proletariat past are topics of discussion and contention, particularly as the former’s adopted parents had an opportunity to raise the latter brother as well. Yet it’s not all rancorous, with some of the class-conscious talk humorous and almost cathartic, such as when the two brothers reminisce about a shared childhood they never had. An amazing moment in which Thibaut asks Jimmy’s humble adoptive mother if she’d rather use the less formal version of “you” with him—tu instead of vous—speaks volumes and demonstrates the script’s occasional insight. As Thibaut, Mr. Lavernhe was nominated for Best Actor at last year’s César Awards, France’s equivalent to the Oscars. While his performance is fantastic, très intense during conducting scenes and elegantly easygoing in others, it is Mr. Lottin who stands out. As Jimmy, the actor gives a masterclass in how to portray a youngish lost soul, a man with talent but little opportunity. In many moments, Mr. Lottin’s eyes dart here and there, his avoidant gaze indicative of his insecurity and vulnerability. The character’s association with Thibaut gets him out of a rut, yet his self-loathing is always evident, a product of his background, his divorce, his job at a school cafeteria, and more. In scenes with the charming Sarah Suco, who plays a striking factory worker and a potential love interest of Jimmy’s, the actor is just as compelling. There are times when Thibaut’s manner betrays a patronizing perspective towards Jimmy and the locals, an approach that the film occasionally mirrors, particularly in its portrayal of the band. References to rap music as amusing and country music as bad also reveal the director’s elitist attitude. Still, the focus on class, divergent fates, and small town France reflects an attempt to deal with crucial issues and socioeconomic events, such as the Yellow Vest protests, while at the same time allowing for melodramatic flourishes. The ending may be pure hokum as it aims for the tearfully uplifting, but what one remembers most are scenes of the protagonists interacting — two biological brothers from different walks of life who also become blood brothers.

‘The Marching Band’ Plays a Familiar Tune, But With Spirit and Social Awareness

‘The Marching Band’ Plays a Familiar Tune, But With Spirit and Social Awareness

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