The Choral

Director:Nicholas Hytner

It’s 1916, the First World War is raging, but in the small town of Ramsden, there are other concerns. The local Choral society finds itself without a choirmaster, but luckily for them Dr. Henry Guthrie (Ralph Fiennes), is close by. Guthrie is a leading conductor, but he has been working in Germany! But now back in England, the society invite him to come and help them put on their latest performance. Guthrie finds an eager society, who are light on numbers and in some cases talent, can he get them in shape against the clock and against a back drop of the concerns of war?

I found The Choral a strangely emotionally inert film. It’s not terrible and is a pleasant and inoffensive, but I found it really lacking in any kind of emotional depth or engagement. Which is a bit odd considering the setting and the opportunities that presents. Wives, mothers and girlfriends with men in their lives away at the front. Young men waiting to be called up and older men with links to the front, all with stories to explore.

The story possibilities is perhaps the problem because the story we get never delves into any of them and instead flips and flops between characters and moments, never really scratching the surface.

The cast is fine, alongside Fiennes, Roger Allam, Alun Armstrong and Mark Addy are dependable as ever. But it’s Amara Okereke and Emily Fairn as Salvation Army singer Mary and Bella, respectively, who steal the show and provide the film with the heart it has.

As a film made by the BBC, perhaps it would have been better served as a gentle Sunday evening 6-part drama where it could’ve explored its characters, because as a film it all felt a bit of a narrative mess and unengaging.

The Choral never quite grabs you. It may have been better served as a drama series where its story possibilities could be explored. But as a film it’s a bit of a mish mash that never really seems to get under the skin of any of its characters. While good hearted, lacks any kind of emotional core to latch on to. Inoffensive, but all a bit flat.