Some thoughts on
En Fanfare
Emmanuel Courcol
France 2024
in German cinemas now as: "Die leisen und die großen Töne"
The Union Musicale de Walincourt is the band of a former mining town in the north of France (doesn't appear to be related to the real Walincourt in the Dept. Nord, which didn't have mining), where the last major factory is closing down and being dismantled. Accordingly the band or "harmonie" isn't all in harmony either and is threatened with extinction after the conductor is forced to work abroad. The story revolves around a major culture clash as an internationally famous conductor of major orchestras finds out he's the biological brother of one of the band members.
So it is a bit of Brassed off among the Ch'tis, with a lot of classical music making thrown in as well, and a medical/family drama stitching the bits together. I wouldn't normally consider a film about two blokes finding out they're brothers or exchanging tissue samples, so I'm really only looking at the musical bits here and they were amazing. Very convincing portraitures of the different musical worlds, how they seem to be lightyears apart, but then, with a bit of effort, one can bring them together.
Although IMDB lists "The Marching Band" as an English title, there's only a few seconds of marching involved, thankfully. (For more marching and outdoors musical mischief watch Tambour battant, CH 2019.) Watch out for Anne-Sophie Lapix playing herself in the evening news of France 2, and for a flashmob performance inside an official musical event ...
Compared to my own experience in UK ensembles, the harmonie members in the film are amazingly rude to each other - guess that's in part just the Ch'ti culture as opposed to Oxford privilege and politeness, so I'm hoping that won't put anybody off from joining their local band or amateur orchestra. Do sign up now while these things just about exist ...
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