As an avid fan of french movies, there was no way I’d miss this one. A renowned orchestra conductor Thibaut(Benjamin Lavernhe) who is diagnosed with leukemia finds out he’s been adopted and has a brother (Jimmy – Pierre Lottin). He goes to meet him to ask him to be his bone marrow donor and the two get to know each other.

The brothers grew up very differently; Thibaut in the upper class, having all the opportunities needed to succeed as an orchestra conductor whereas Jimmy’s found family was struggling financially which led him to pursue music only as his hobby in a local marching band.

Having been unfamiliar with the actors prior to watching, I found their performances refreshing and authentic. The movie was very minimalistic and realistic, it didn’t need big moments to tell the gravity of words being spoken or the despair of the life you’ve been given that you can change nothing about.

Both main actors did a great job conveying their emotions and the inner turmoil and just the right amount for me to interpret in the silences. But the supporting actors should not be forgotten. My dad plays in a marching band as well and while watching we all had to laugh cause the characters were so similar to his band. The filmmakers truly captured the essence of everyday life while highlighting the uniqueness of each character.

I’m not a big fan of big moments so the ending left me a bit sad. I know that endings don’t necessarily have to be happy but I would have wished for them to tie things together at the concert at the factory instead of Thibauts concert, this way I was only left with hoping for Jimmys future.

Still, all in all I was happy to watch another french film as you can tell that everyone involved in this movie really loved the story, the art and the music. And to me, that is what good film making is about.