The Choral

A movie review by Alex First

Set against the dreadful pall of The Great War*, the Choral Society, in the fictional town of Ramsden, in Yorkshire, presses on.

The Society is funded by its chairman and local mill owner Alderman Bernard Duxbury (Roger Allam), who employs a large swathe of the town’s population.

It is 1916, and it’s time to audition for the next production.

The Society is keen to recruit local young men to swell its ranks.

Given the times, this is a community all too familiar with loss.

Among those delivering the worst news is 17-year-old telegram boy Lofty (Oliver Briscombe).

He and his best mate of the same age, Ellis (Taylor Uttley), try out for the choir.

It won’t be long now before all able-bodied young men over the age of 18 will be conscripted by an Act of Parliament.

But, as it so happens, the Choral Society is blindsided when its respected choir master signs up.

The Society’s search for a replacement leads it to make a divisive choice.

There is no questioning Dr Henry Guthrie’s (Ralph Fiennes) reputation and ability, but his career has flourished … in Germany.

Dr Guthrie’s recent history, therefore, leaves an uncomfortable taste in the mouths of many.

Still, he takes charge and begins to whip the choir into shape.

He chooses to adapt Edward Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius, which is based on a long poem about the death of a devout old man and the journey of his soul.

Of course, the subject is particularly prescient because this is a community all too used to losing young men.

Controversially, the lead role is given to Clyde (Jacob Dudman), who has just returned from the Western Front, having lost an arm.

There is a lot more going on here, including the personal relationships between those in the choir and their loved ones.

Dr Henry Guthrie is gay and missing his partner  who is fighting in the war.

Ellis’ hormones are working overtime and he takes a fancy to fellow chorister Bella (Emily Fairn), Clyde’s girlfriend, who never expected Clyde to return.

Another of Ellis and Lofty’s circle, who also joins the choir, has more than a passing interest in the golden-voiced Salvation Army officer Mary (Amara Okereke).

Alderman Duxbury has lost his only son to the war and his wife is struggling to cope with the grief.

And the choir’s pianist (Robert Emms), who Dr Guthrie brought with him when he took on the role of choir master, stands on his principals as a conscientious objector.

The Choral marks the fourth collaboration between writer Alan Bennett and director Nicholas Hytner.

The way it is played, the choir is the glue that is binding together a fractured society.

The tension and grief are palpable, but the Choral Society provides a ray of sunshine.

With impressive period detail involved in the production, Ralph Fiennes is his usual, reliable self as the highly skilled, intelligent and knowledgeable choir master.

Roger Allam transitions his character well from one of strength to vulnerability.

I also appreciated the relationship between mates Lofty and Ellis.

There is no shortage of feistiness and sexual tension in play in The Choral too.

That is where Emily Fairn and a conservative Amara Okereke come into focus.

Importantly, there is also a well-considered onus on the choice of material to be performed by the choir, which adds to the drama.

There is an understated quality to The Choral that should appeal to older British cinema lovers.

Rated M, it scores a 7 out of 10. 113 minutes

*It is a moniker derived from the fact that it was, at the time, the largest, deadliest conflict the world had seen.