The Choral – Review

Cert – 12, Run-time – 1 hour 53 minutes, Director – Nicholas Hytner

Having spent years living in Germany, Dr Henry Guthrie (Ralph Fiennes) is brought in as the new choirmaster of Ramsden, Yorkshire, a town facing considerable loss as World War I continues.

There can be many members of a choir, and in just under two hours The Choral tries to feature each of them. Some as slight comic relief, others as more prominent protagonists. It makes for a very busy and awkward-sitting film as throughout scenes are cut down to the most fleeting of moments. Hastily stopping and starting, as choirmaster Dr Guthrie (Ralph Fiennes) gets those he’s conducting to do.

Guthrie has been called upon by the senior members of the Ramsden Choral Society to lead them when their choirmaster signs up to fight in World War I. However, while he’s viewed as the best, most musically experienced choice he’s spent a number of years living in Germany, and frequently speaks the language to the shock of those around him. He’s a strong advocate for art being an escape rather than a distraction, something that can benefit and help – and sees that being the case with some of the choir members, particularly young men returning to war, or preparing to be called up.

Ramsden (a fictional town) is full of grief as telegrams go round signalling the death of friends and family members, or in one case the uncertainty of an MIA notice. Yet, through the lens of the effect of art director Nicholas Hytner, once again teaming up with writer Alan Bennett, there’s a more sedate feeling to things. Particularly pushed with just how many characters and situations we cut back and forth between in a jumpy manner that stops a connection from being properly performed. Certainly there are a couple of good chuckles along the way, particularly courtesy of Roger Allam and Mark Addy, and the big final performance lands an effect that successfully stirs emotions, but this is the moment that’s built up to by almost all points amongst all the separate details and relationships.

For the most part The Choral is a film that if you’ve seen the trailer you’ll know how the film will go down with you, but even that fails to get across the restless nature that runs throughout much of the first half, and threatens to return every now and then. When it feels most confident in the themes that it’s dealing with, those which are most consistent, the film moves along rather well. But, when cutting back and forth between sometimes poorly edited scenes there’s a disconnect formed due to the unsettled nature of the unfolding events which struggle to base multiple ideas into one core theme. Most of the notes may be in tune, but they’re not always in harmony.

While fine and certainly hitting some good notes throughout when focusing on its themes surrounding the effect and use of art, there’s an awkwardness to much of The Choral’s first half as it hastily cuts between brief scenes featuring a busy cast.