Directed by Stephen Walker. Gen cert, Screen, Dublin, 107 min
THE TWO DOZEN touring rock music performers who constitute the chorus known as Young@Heart are even older than The Rolling Stones. Their average age is 80, and this documentary opens as the oldest member, 93-year-old Eileen Hall, takes lead vocals on The Clash's Should I Stay or Should I Go.
Director Stephen Walker spent seven weeks filming the chorus at their base in Northampton, Massachusetts as they prepared a new set for their 2006-07 tour of the US and Ireland. Bob Cilman, Young@Heart's musical director, explains that when he formed the ensemble in 1982, their repertoire consisted mostly of vaudeville numbers. That all changed when one of them performed Manfred Mann's Do Wah Diddy Diddy.
Cilman doesn't make it easy for his singers, and they are thrown when he introduces them to Sonic Youth's Schizophrenia. But they rise to that challenge in their unique style. Undaunted by age or infirmity, the singers immerse themselves in the hard slog of rehearsals with a dedication and commitment that make some much younger bands seem like slouches by comparison.
In between songs, we get to know many of the singers and to admire their determination that the show must go on despite their various illnesses. One cancer survivor credits his involvement with the chorus and the uplift from enthusiastic audience responses for keeping him going. Doubling as off-screen interviewer, director Walker makes some pat and obvious observations, but he treats the performers with the respect they deserve.
The shadow of immortality looms inevitably, and not all of the singers will make it to opening night. One of the most moving scenes in the film comes after a member dies on the day they are performing at a prison, and they pay tribute to him with a poignant version of Bob Dylan's Forever Young. That song and several others (Staying Alive, I Wanna Be Sedated), take on a new significance in the context, transforming what might have been mere cover versions through fresh reinterpretations of the lyrics.
When the chorus gives the first concert of their new material, the movie is infused with their humour, dignity and sheer joy, most of all when they finally nail Schizophrenia, the musical highlight of the show.
