Elderly choir’s story proves to be irresistible

After its 2006 broadcast on Britain’s Channel 4 TV network full-length British documentary Young@Heart was almost lost to that station’s archives. For the past two years this look at New England senior citizens crooning to an unlikely mixture of rock punk and R&B existed only in bite-sized chunks on YouTube. Taken out of context the performances from small rehearsal halls and world tours provided a glimpse of the bizarre and have been viewed 1.7 million times. This prompted Fox Searchlight’s decidedly unexpected decision to pick up and distribute Young@Heart — its first documentary in over a decade.

Searchlight’s decision was a good one. In effect putting context back into what before was simply strange the film adds a deserved soul to the nameless aged faces and voices of one not-so-run-of-the-mill chorus line. As documentary filmmaker Stephen Walker tracks the cast from old-age home to rehearsal hall to sold-out auditoriums a metamorphosis takes place. Carefree voyeurism changes to a genuine fret over what will happen next — not just to the musicians but also to the audience. Suddenly the faces on the screen could be our grandparents our mom or dad or ultimately you or I with bad tickers and incurable cancers.

There’s old-timer Joe Benoit poster boy of Young@Heart — a natural memorizing his lyrics weeks before the rest of the choir — whose chemotherapy treatments over the years could have killed an elephant five times over. Or Fred Knittle with a heart condition that can’t stop him from belting out his very best rendition of “Ghost Riders in the Sky” or telling the filmmakers that “I used to fly continent to continent until I became too incontinent” when asked why he’s no longer able to travel with the choir. Or Lenny who likes to sing a little “Yankee Doodle Dandy” as he lead-foots it down the motorway towards the recital hall — driver by default he’s the only one in the car with good eyes. Lenny remarks “If you don’t use it you lose it” as he prepares for his Hendrix “Purple Haze” solo.

Receiving the 2007 Audience Choice Award at the Los Angeles Film Festival Young@Heart has an obvious message about mortality but ultimately its structure is forgivably unimportant. The film spends just enough time with its old-time stars to transform a YouTube burp into a touching look at life and a reminder not to waste it.

Tags: