We can’t wait for the release of “The Choral” at cinemas on Friday 7 November! A group of us will be going to see it on the opening night at the Everyman Cinema in Barnet. Featuring a script by Alan Bennett, direction by Nicholas Hytner, and a stellar cast led by Ralph Fiennes as the chorus master, it promises to be an uplifting and entertaining watch. It feels as if it’s been a long time since a major feature film has chosen to make choral singing its main focus, and there’s something rather wonderful about seeing your passion represented on the big screen. I guess brass band players must have felt the same when “Brassed Off” came out in the 1990s.
Based on what I’ve gleaned from the trailer and reviews, one of the key themes that the film explores is the way that singing – and singing together – can help people to come to terms with trauma and loss. The film is set during the Great War and the eponymous choir is a microcosm of the Yorkshire community reeling in the absence of its young men. “Life is s**t” – so sing…”, choral director Dr Guthrie (Fiennes) says to a returned wounded soldier he is trying to recruit. One of our members reminded me of another film that features a choir in wartime – Paradise Road (released in 1997) tells of a group of English, American, Dutch and Australian women captured by the Japanese during the Second World War, who form a “vocal orchestra” to provide them with solace amid the harsh conditions of their prison.
The film also focuses on the role of the choir in building a sense of community at a time when the war is bringing major social changes. When Dr Guthrie sets his sight on a performance of Elgar’s “Dream of Gerontius”, he has to find singers at every level of society and bring them together, persuading them to overlook each other’s (and his own) “peculiarities” (he’s a German-speaking atheist, for starters). The power of singing together to build communities has been a theme in many movies, though often with a poppier soundtrack – thinking of “Sister Act” and “Pitch Perfect” and their sequels, for example.
Of course, one of the things we love about singing in our choir is the relationships we build with the other singers. TV dramas like “The Choir”, based on Joanna Trollope’s novel of the same name, have focused on the -let’s say – soapier aspects of life as a chorister. I suspect we can expect the same from Ruth Jones and James Corden’s forthcoming new show, also entitled “The Choir”, which we’ll be able to stream on Apple TV+ – but not till 2027. We’ll be ready with the popcorn when it comes out!