I was having a real need for an indie movie so yesterday I went out to watch a documentary entitled YOUNG@HEART and I cannot say enough good things about this movie. While it is a little slow starting and the narrator needs to shut up I will promise you four things about this movie: 1. You will not be disappointed. 2. You will laugh. 3. You will cry. and 4. You will leave the theatre profoundly affected.
The documentary is about a chorus where the average age of the members is 80 that tour first England and then the U.S. singing rock songs. Not Neil Diamond mind you but Punk Classics. Sonic Youth's Schizophrenia, The Talking Heads' Life During Wartime, Allen Toussaint's Yes We Can Can. The choir is based in an assisted living center in Northampton, Ma.
The humor in the movie is in the wonderful members of the chorus as they deal with age and dying, the profoundness is the brutal honesty of the aging process, and the joy of the music is hearing songs we all know that now have a different meaning. The meaning of Clash's Should I Stay or Should I Go is so profoundly different when sung by someone in their 90's. A Statue would cry at Cold Play's Fix You when sung by Fred accompanied by the rhythm of an oxygen tank.
There are so many scenes that are fun to watch and so many touching scenes, especially one in a prison, that the run time of 107 minutes fly by.
Please go to this movie. Don't Tivo it. Go to it. Take a friend, a husband, some tissues and talk about it afterward. Bev and Pat you two would especially enjoy this movie.
For more about the YOUNG@HEART chorus you can go to their web page at:
http://www.youngatheartchorus.com/
About Me
- William J.
- First, I think the birth sign is wrong. 6-21, some papers say Gemini, some Cancer. Guess that means I have so many personalities that I can do group therapy alone. For those that don't know how to read Google profiles I have put what I really mean in ( ). Hot (Good looking enough to be in movies(if I buy at ticket). A body like a God (Buddha). Romantic (Thinks begging is foreplay.) Physically fit (Heart trouble. Put 911 on speed dial before we get initmate.) Good Provider (has good life insurance in case you forget to put 911 on speed dial.) Loyal (has reference letters from Mom and parole officer.) Intelligent (scored 1600 on his SATS but you have to total the scores of the four times that I took the test.) Looking for someone compatible (Be between 30 & 99 and not inflatable.)
6 comments:
Thanks for the review. I've seen bits about the movie and seen members interviewed and I definitely want to see it!
I've seen something about it, too, and it'll be on our list, too.
I saw it reviewed on some tv show, and they absolutely adored it, so I look forward to seeing it, too.
Er, I'm not sure I'm flattered at being singled out for this one, though. I'm feeling aged enough already.
Pat
You should be flattered because I didn't even think about your age when I signaled you out. I just thought you would enjoy it for two reasons:
1. The music.
2. You are dealing with an aging mom.
Had I thought about your age I wouldn't have said anything!
Bev
Anyone that has an elderly relative like your mom should see this movie.
Bill
Mary Z
It is definitely worth seeing!
Bill
Post a Comment