Not the same
old song

>>Aged choir members rock out
in the charming doc Young@Heart

by MARK SLUTSKY

If there’s a scene in a movie this year more startling than a group of senior citizens singing Sonic Youth’s “Schizophrenia,” then I can’t wait to see it. It’s one of the pleasures of Young@Heart, a documentary by U.K. director Stephen Walker that should be far more schmaltzy and hard to take than it actually is. But there you have it: it’s a heartstrings-pulling doc about a senior citizens’ choir that’s actually kind of awesome.

Made for British TV, where it went under the title Young at Heart (guess the distributor figured the word “at” was too difficult for North American audiences), the movie follows seven weeks in the life of the choir of the same name, founded in 1982 by Bob Cilman. He’s a relative youngster compared with the rest of the group, the median age of whom, we’re told, is 80.

The Northampton, New York-based group has played all over the world, and while the singers themselves don’t possess the most, let’s say, golden of voices, their exuberance, combined with Cilman’s choice of tunes, sets them apart. Besides the Sonic Youth tune, they’ve covered songs by the Clash, Outkast, Talking Heads, Allen Toussaint and other musicians you wouldn’t necessarily associate with the octogenarian set.

It’s funny to see the choir members react to Cilman’s set choices; they seem to be mostly avowed classical and opera fans, but they go along with his very different tastes. And more often than not, it works; sure, sometimes the performances veer into novelty territory, but other performances are quite touching. He’s a bit of a taskmaster with them as well, but as the movie goes on, you realize they appreciate a bit of real talk in their lives.

Many of the choir members have been through, or are, as the film documents them, in the process of dealing with various health scares. Without giving too much away, they become a serious part of the film’s plot, and it goes in some unexpected directions.

So yes, it’s a bit sappy but so sincere, the characters so likeable, you really don’t care. Plus, seeing a 92-year-old sing “Should I Stay or Should I Go” is worth it alone.

Young@Heart opens
this Friday, April 25

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