French cinema seems fascinated lately by the very noble subject of “culture shock”: the dazzling irruption of culture, music or otherwise, which comes to illuminate, change, by chance the course of an existence. But to convey this message, should we take the spectators for suitcases? When it comes to predictable, well-aligned shots, Tenor seems almost unbeatable.
Somehow, Tenor is the vocal declension ofAt fingertips, a film by Ludovic Bernard released in 2018, where the director of the Paris Conservatory took a jailbird pianist under his wing. But to achieve the feel good movie » unstoppable, TenorClaude Zidi Jr.’s first solo film, added another layer to all levels.
Rap and classic
In the jungle of the Parisian suburbs, Antoine Zerkaoui (Mohammed Belkhir, better known as MB14) organizes clandestine boxing fights for his brother Didier. Intellectual of his group of young people, Antoine studies accountancy and earns his living by delivering sushi.
With his sense of rhythm and repartee, he is also the representative of the clan during rap battles where the scathing replicas “break” the opponents in front of edgy groupies.
One day, this admirer of 2Pac is led to deliver an order of raw fish to a singing class at the Paris Opera. An altercation with a pretentious student leads him to speak with a timbre that is not without moving the head of the Atelier d’Opéra, Madame Loyseau.
The sequel is so sewn with white thread that if we could sew with rope… The rapper will be fascinated by the opera and, as he has a beautiful voice, Madame Loyseau will make a Pavarotti of it, all against a background of struggle classes, with a frigid institution that doesn’t want suburbanites and rapping thugs who reject anyone who prides himself on loving opera. Roberto Alagna comes to make his insignificant flash appearance to give a lyrical aura that the setting of the Palais Garnier already conferred on the project.
Antoine has a timbre, a sense of rhythm, no technique, can’t read sheet music, but instantly starts singing duets and after a few months of blowing bubbles in a glass of water and skipping his lessons, he balance Nessun slept like a champ. The classic ? There is nothing there: raw talent, Madame! When will there be a film about hockey where a “Grapefruit” would score 10 goals at Andreï Vassilevski in front of a dumbfounded and moved to tears room?
Other routes
Frequently Asked Feelings, Tenor is carried by the wounded grace of Michèle Laroque as a singing teacher and by the dazzled and endearing determination of “MB14” which evokes, including physics, the fresh candor of Gael García Bernal in the series Mozart in the Jungle.
Between At fingertips and Tenorthere was fortunately, at the end of 2020, on the theme of “culture shock”, a jewel worn by grace and Kad Merad, A triumph by Emmanuel Courcol. There was also in 2021 the most tortuous This music plays for no one, selected at Cannes. The only final scene of this film by Samuel Benchetrit, a settling of scores on the docks, where François Damiens decides the fate of his worst enemy against a backdrop ofAdagio d’Albinoni, is worth much more than Tenor in full.
“We are here to listen to this music, but if there is no one to hear it, does it still exist? ” he asks. “I don’t know, right? replies a bloodied hoodlum at his mercy. “Well yes, you just have to love him. There is a tone, a framework, a lighting, a tension, an atmosphere. There is cinema.