The Choral

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With people still believing that the Great War would be over by Christmas, the grandees in the northern English town of “Ramsden” are facing a crisis of their own. Their choir-master has joined up, and with St Matthew’s Passion already booked for the town hall, local mill owner “Duxbury” (Roger Allam) needs to find a replacement. A chat with his sidekicks “Joe” (Mark Addy) and disgruntled undertaker “Trickett” (Alun Armstrong) sees them alight on “Guthrie” (Ralph Fiennes). Snag? Well he has spent quite a lot of time in Germany and just about every piece of music they can think of has been written by a German, too. Aware of the political sensitivities of their choice and also struggling to get any male voices from the now dwindling citizenry, the film depicts their efforts to perform their own version of a large-scale choral piece from Sir Edward Elgar. Meantime, whilst this is all in the pipeline we also follow the adventures of a few of the lads from the town who, at just seventeen, are aware that call-up is just a matter of time so getting laid - either lovingly or transactionally - is the order of the day. “Ellis” (Taylor Uttley) has his eyes set on “Bella” (Emily Fairn) but she’s engaged to the recently returned and wounded “Clyde” (Jacob Dudman). Then there’s the aptly named local postie “Lofty” (Oliver Briscombe) and finally the man-shy Sally-Army chanteuse “Mary” (Amara Okereke) and her, he hopes, would-be beau “Mitch” (Shaun Thomas). Finally, and I felt a bit unnecessarily, there’s an undercooked sub-plot between “Guthrie” and pianist “Robert” (Robert Emms) to further complicate matters and illustrate something of the idea of conscientious objectivity. What chance any of them might find happiness before their big day on the stage or before that fateful train departs? Actually, what chance Sir Edward (Sir Simon Russell Beale) is going to let them perform it at all?  Now historians could probably take issue with a lot of this. Even I spotted a few inconsistencies with the facts and this timeline, but I think this is essentially a film about how ordinary people coped with a war that they knew little about beyond their loyal and fairly unequivocal dedication to King and Country. It stretches belief a little insofar as this small town managing to find quite such an array of singing talent, but on that front it reminded me a little of “Brassed Off” (1996) in that it showcases just how important a choir and/or a band were to these proud working class communities who were embarking on complex works with a determination that easily transcended the barriers of class or social standing that prevailed outside of their rehearsal room. It’s that sense of purpose that I felt this delivered quite well, and though I can’t say Fiennes did all that much beyond enunciate in German quite effectively, I did think Allam, Addy, Fairn and the scene-stealing Okereke presented us with an amiable observation of the importance of wartime diversion when many were preoccupied with those already at, or about to go to, the Somme. The production design is busy and authentic looking, sugar rationing doesn’t appear to have been an issue for the Battenberg cakes and of course Sir Simon managed his five minutes of pure luvvie-curmudgeon as if he were still on the set of the last “Downton Abbey” movie. The oratorio in question features powerfully as the credits roll and though this maybe isn’t a film you will recall for too long, I thought it’s very humanity, tempered with some occasional mischief, was quite poignant and worth a watch.

In 1916 England, when the nation was embroiled in its intense World War I confrontation with Germany on the European mainland, the country toiled mightily to maintain its civilized prewar status quo on the homefront as much as possible. But, try as they might, British subjects nevertheless had to contend with the unavoidable impact of that distant conflict on many aspects of life at home. And that discrepancy, ironic and paradoxical as it may be, is a major theme in the latest offering from director Nicholas Hytner. Set in the fictional Yorkshire mill town of Ramsden, the film follows the resolute efforts of its local choral society – the cultural heart of the community – to stay afloat at a time when many of its male vocalists are volunteering or being drafted for the war effort, including its beloved choir master. This inescapable reality thus forces the society’s leadership (Roger Allam, Mark Addy, Alun Armstrong, Ron Cook) into making some hard choices about how to keep the organization going as its talent pool is steadily depleted. Chief among these decisions is finding a suitable replacement choir master, a job that ends up going to the gifted but controversial Dr. Henry Guthrie (Ralph Fiennes), a talented musician who spent a number of years living in, of all places, Germany (Horrors!) and a “bachelor” known for leading a “questionable” lifestyle. Although initially reluctant to take the job (believing the English cultural scene to be inherently inferior to that of the enemy), he begrudgingly accepts the position. In doing so, he launches a far-reaching campaign to recruit new members and agrees to help bolster domestic patriotism through his choice of musical selections. He eschews performances of the works of renowned (and, in his view, vastly superior) German composers in favor of home-grown material – in this case, a production of The Dream of Gerontius, a little-known, underappreciated, seldom-performed oratorio by English composer Sit Edward Elgar (Simon Russell Beale). With this stage thus set, the film proceeds to follow preparations for the performance of Elgar’s opus, backed by the individual stories of a number of the vocalists, including, among others, the limbo imposed on young men facing the uncertainty of conscription (Taylor Uttley, Oliver Briscombe), an avowed conscientious objector conflicted about how to handle his draft notice (Robert Emms), townsfolk dealing with the grief of lost and missing loved ones (Emily Fairns, Eunice Roberts), and a Salvation Army volunteer with an angelic voice who doesn’t fully recognize the depth of her talent (Amara Omereke). This combination of story threads makes for an engaging, well balanced, evenly integrated, sufficiently resolved narrative. However, the sheer number of tangents incorporated here occasionally becomes a little unwieldy, with some being left less developed than others, leading one to believe that this project may have worked better as a PBS miniseries than a standalone theatrical release. But this shortcoming is largely made up for by its solid performances (particularly those of Fiennes, Allum, Fairns and Omereke), backed by gorgeous cinematography and a superb period piece production design. To be sure, “The Choral” may not hit all of the right notes, but it successfully manages to land quite a few of them, making for an enjoyable, entertaining story – something that’s always welcome during times of adversity, issues arguably just as pertinent today as they were a century ago.

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://fandomwire.com/the-choral-review/ "The Choral is a passable yet forgettable experience. While the vocal performances are heavenly and the premise of finding refuge in art is noble, its thematic and narrative approach is too shallow. The lack of development for all characters prevents catharsis and emotional impact, leaving the audience with a movie that feels more like a rigid stage play than a cinematic drama. It's a mere fleeting comfort whose beautiful music cannot conceal the superficiality of its story." Rating: C+