Ralph Fiennes owns this movie and the choir.
“The Choral” is a period drama that seeks to win us over with its depiction of people caught in the middle of the First World War, whether they’re fighting or lost people who were. But it also shares its depiction of a choral group under the guidance of a man whose personality and beliefs probably wouldn’t fit the community’s standards. He is a gay, atheistic Germanophile, and only once we see a brick thrown through a window with “Hun muck” written on the note. But even he doesn’t worry about that, and he suggests: “It’s probably a critic.”
Ralph Fiennes is the leading man of the movie playing that gay, atheistic Germanphile named Dr. Henry Guthrie, and he’s very good-the best thing about it-as he has the facial hair that resembles Sigmund Freud’s and the characteristics of a music man caught in the middle of the war and composing.
The time is 1916 and the place is Yorkshire, England. And the story regards a choral group who needs a new choirmaster, since the current one is fighting in the war. They enlist Dr. Henry Guthrie as the replacement. The song they must perform is “The Dream of Gerontius” by Edward Elgar (Simon Russell Beale), who is NOT German. I’m saying that because at this very moment, they can’t perform any music composed by German musicians. Not Bach, not Beethoven, not Mendelssohn, not even Handel. So, Elgar it is then.
There are those who lost their loved ones in battle, especially Guthrie who had a lover on the German battleship Pommern (“This f***ing war. The vicars want it. The women want it. The idiots getting killed, they want it. Who do you turn to?,” he asks). Some like his gay pianist Robert (Robert Emms) don’t want to be conscripted. And there are some whose fighting loved ones are MIA, but come back, like Clyde (Jacob Dudman) who comes back with an amputated arm. At the very least, the music tries to help keep their spirits alive.
Some of the other singers in the Choral include the sex worker Mrs. Bishop (Lyndsey Marshal), the Salvation Army nurse Mary (Amara Okereke), and Clyde’s love Bella (Emily Fairn); and some of the other superiors include Alderman Bernard Duxbury (Roger Allam), Mr. Fyton (Mark Addy), and Mr. Trickett (Alun Armstrong).
Directed by Nicholas Hytner (in his first film in literally a decade since “The Lady in the Van”) and written by his collaborator Alan Bennett, “The Choral” has so many supporting characters in the mix, that there’s not enough time to give everyone complete character studies. I would have liked to have gotten to know more about them, instead of just earning some summaries, but the performances are able to breathe some life into them. Particularly Emms, Fairn, and Okereke.
The costumes are perfect, not only resembling the times, but also matching the film’s somber tone. It’s a sad movie, after all, there are those who didn’t survive the war, those about to face the battlefields, and those with certain interests. And the color palettes are in browns, blacks, blues, and greens. Even it can be bright at times to liven our spirits up a bit. And this was photographed by Mike Eley.
I know it sounds typical that I would mostly be praising “The Choral” because of the leading man, but Fiennes is the right actor to portray this new choirmaster. He displays the right tone and emotions, and he speaks with such elegance and consistency, that it’s impossible to resist whatever humanity he places here. He deserves to be labeled one of our finest actors around. But he doesn’t steal this movie from everyone. He lets his co-stars have their moments of sincerity, especially when he tries to talk some sense into the Emms character about the young man’s decisions.
Don’t worry. I’m not throwing any bricks with “Hun muck” written on the note at anyone or anything.
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