THE MARCHING BAND

Wednesday, November 12 2025


The Marching Band   
France 2024
Location: SilverCity
Showtimes: 6:30 & 8:30 pm


Director: Emmanuel Courcol
Cast: Benjamin Lavernhe, Pierre Lottin, Sarah Suco, Jacques Bonnaffé, Clémence Massart-Weit, Anne Loiret
Running Time: 103 minutes
Language: French with English subtitles


San Sebastian International Film Festival: City of Donostia Audience Award, Emmanuel Courcol: 8 other César Awards, France


“Warm and sure-footed, the film has the feel of a richly satisfying meal in an excellent neighbourhood bistro. Old world pleasures of character and story are generously apportioned.”---Danny Leigh, Financial Times


Emmanuel Courcol presents a heartwarming French-language comedy-drama brought to life by two charismatic lead performances and a familiar yet rewarding storyline. “The Marching Band” recalls “Brassed Off,” “The Full Monty” and “Billy Elliot” movies from the heartland which dared to dream that show business or cultural community adventures can somehow survive the realities of a changing industrial capitalism.


Thibaut (Benjamin Lavernhe) is a distinguished and sensitive orchestra conductor who collapses mid-rehearsal in Paris. He is told he has leukemia and needs a bone marrow transplant donor. Thibaut is adopted. Tracking down his biological brother leads him down an unlikely trail to the boondocks where he finds factory worker Jimmy (Pierre Lottin) who also plays trombone in the factory’s boisterous band. He also has a love of jazz on vinyl.


Thibaut has the tricky task of asking a total stranger to donate his bone marrow. The pair couldn’t be more different –  class, lifestyle, and worldview divide them – but they recognize a commonality that surpasses these gaps: a shared love of music.  


Thibault sees in Jimmy a vision of what his own life could have been without his adoptive mother’s comfortable middle-class background. He comes to view Jimmy and himself through the lens of class, politics and society, not the supposed destiny of pure talent.


Jimmy’s band suddenly needs of a conductor. Who’s most qualified to lead them? Thibault has to forego his polished classical world to take the reins of Jimmy’s rowdy band. The chemistry between Thibautl and Lottin makes for a touching final concert encore.