The Choral is a charming story about a choir group in 1916 Yorkshire who are led by Dr Guthrie who has spent many years in Germany. Ralph Fiennes is very good as Guthrie. His character is the one that always seems to have a disconnect from the reality of what is happening elsewhere. He also seems to be on the verge of crying whenever someone is singing although the singing was very good. Even though the war is a theme of the film we never see the war although we see the impact it is having on the town with a mixture of people waiting to be called up and people who have close ones that have served and are either severely injured or died.
The film also deals with conscientious objection which was a crime back then and Robert is the one who doesn't want to fight and despite being given a deferment he doesn't want to take it and the last time we see him in the film is when he is taken away by the military police. Robert’s character doesn't really have much impact in the plot until the end and he is supposed to be the one who understands Guthrie but just spends his time telling everyone that he is strange and they should just accept it. If there was a real issue with the film then it is that there is the bare minimum for each character and there is very little beyond what we see on screen.
Roger Allam, Mark Addy & Alun Armstrong are the trio to run the choir. Addy is the one that is the more reasonable and it so it seems to be the one that had the more humorous side. Allam plays Duxbury who is the local Mill owner who has bought his way into the choral despite not being able to sing the big notes. Duxbury has been affected by the war as he has lost his son and Armstrong plays Trickett who is an undertaker and there was a scene where he reminded me of Fraser from Dad’s Army.
The setting is a character in its own right. Every shot of the town is spectacular and the film is worth seeing just for that. It’s almost enough for me to take a trip up north and visit the sites although I might wait till the weather is a bit better.
As the film progresses people start to warm to Guthrie but there is the issue of putting on this show using music created by Elgar because he is the only non-German composer that they could use. When Guthrie changes something after getting permission to use the piece by Elgar, Elgar decides to withdraw his support and this leads to them deciding to put it on but don't charge. The final part of the film is the show itself and it was very nice and heartfelt so that you get what you came for. The film has a more downbeat ending than I was expecting. I know that it was the middle of the war so it might have been out of place but I think it might have been nice to have an optimistic ending. This doesn't appear to be based on a true story or true person as there was no end text so you could have given us a more hopeful ending to leave the cinema.
Despite the ending, I enjoyed this film. It’s directed by Nicholas Hytner who directed The Madness of King George which is a brilliant film although this doesn't quite have the story in terms of quality. It’s a lovely film that I don't think is going to be widely seen except for people over a certain age which is a shame because it has a message that music can heal the soul and can make you forget about the horrors of war even though it runs through every scene in the movie.
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