Young at Heart 2008
This is a neat documentary about an old folks choir in Massachusetts that sings modern songs. Not just modern songs, they skew a little towards new wave, with songs by Talking Heads, Coldplay, The Clash, and Sonic Youth, along with mainstream music by David Bowie, James Brown, and the Bee Gees. The documentary starts as the group of twenty-two singers (average age is 80) is practicing several new songs for their upcoming season. Some of the songs are very difficult and practices do not go well, but the director, Bob Cilman, pushes onwards.
There is a big leap of faith that the singers have taken. No doubt most of them haven’t even heard of the bands whose songs they are singing. When they hear Sonic Youth’s song “Schizophrenia” they hate it. But they keep practicing. The audience gets to know the director and the choir members through a number of interviews. Not surprisingly, there are some colorful characters. There is also heartbreak as you can imagine with a movie that follows a group of octogenarians over an extended period of time. A couple of the members of the group die before the documentary ends with their first big performance of the year.
Despite that, the show must go on, and practice continues. Once you start seeing some of the finished product you realize how clever Cilman is both in the selection of songs and in his arrangements. Each song usually focuses on one or two primary singers and the rest of the group backs them up. They aren’t going for pure vocal performances as much as getting the point across. So the main singers will almost talk their way through their lines, allowing marginal singers to still sound good. This works quite well with rock songs which aren’t generally that demanding of vocal abilities. The selection of songs is also takes some thought, often illustrating the life of senior citizens “on the road to paradise” as described in one Talking Heads song.
When the group performs, they are a real crowd pleaser, surprising people with the songs, energy, and sometimes heartfelt emotion. By seeing the background of what goes into that performance, it is even more meaningful and rewarding.
Written: 21 Feb 2009