Yellow Earth (1984)
Director: Chen Kaige
Country: China
Storyline:
Cuiqiao, a girl from humble origins, is not satisfied with the arranged marriage her father makes for her but is unable to escape what's waiting for her ahead. In a move to let out her desperation, she sings to relieve the pain buried deep inside. Gu Qing, a soldier and an artist, is given the task to search for folklore in the countryside and finds his way to Cuiqiao. Gu tells Cuiqiao how women in cities freely choose who to marry, before returning to his troop with promises to come back for the young girl. Spellbound by the free life in the city, Cuiqiao runs away from her husband on the day of her marriage and drowns in the Yellow River when her boat is knocked over by the turbulent waves. Two months later, Gu returns, and is ambushed by the villagers.
The Chorus (2004)
Director: Christophe Barratier
Country: France
Storyline:
Former music teacher Clément Mathieu arrives at "Fond de l'Etang" (Bottom of the Well), a boarding school for orphans and problem boys, to work as an inspector on Jan 15, 1949. The school is managed with an iron fist by the cruel director Rachin, who severely punishes the boys for any wrongdoing. Mathieu decides to teach the boys to sing in a choir in their spare time, through which he discovers the musical talents of the rebel Pierre Morhange, the son of a beautiful single mother, who Mathieu later develops feelings. He also develops a special bond with the young Pépinot, a boy who waits for his father's visit every Saturday near the gate, not knowing that his parents were lost in the war. Mathieu changes the lives of the boys, the employees at the boarding school and his own.
