Movie Review: Young @ Heart

Who says great-grandma can't rock? This inspiring documentary follows a senior-citizen choir (average age: 80) called Young @ Heart as they rehearse new material for an upcoming show and the following tour. The only catch is the choice of material their director has made for them. These folks don't sing no golden oldies - they cut their false teeth on music as diverse as Coldplay and Sonic Youth. As booty-shaking as James Brown, and as incendiary as The Clash.

That's the "angle" this choir uses to differentiate itself from others like it that exist all over the country. It could easily be silly and almost exploitative of the elderly crooners to have them on stage dancing and singing the Bee Gees disco classic "Stayin' Alive." Ha ha, we get the joke. But it's no joke to the passionate members of the choir. Their dedication and willingness to reach past the "noise" and try to reach the heart of these modern rock and funk songs is what turns the idea from something silly into something sublime.

It's not easy to try and teach a group of hard-of-hearing seniors the ins and outs of James Brown, and much of the humor of the film comes naturally from looking at the perplexed expressions of the choir members as they silently question the sanity of their director. But slowly and surely the words get lodged in the memory, the emotions in the songs become real, and what started with groans and moans turns into something celebratory.

A good portion of the undeniable drama and power of the film lies in the very real issues that come with a traveling rock and roll senior choir. Health is always an issue, and being real life things don't always go as planned for the elderly members of the choir. As events progress in the preparation for the big show at which the choir will debut seven new pieces, the gravity lent to the music by the choir members becomes palpable.

In an emotional highpoint, a once prominent and popular member of the choir who was forced to retire due to health reasons returns to sing with the choir, and during the concert footage, as the man sits illuminated in spotlight, the sound of his oxygen machine interrupting the flow of the music, and he sings the Coldplay song, "Fix You," there isn't a dry eye in the house, or at home as we watch along.

Ultimately a celebratory experience, Young @ Heart is a film that reaffirms the power of music to inspire and bring people together. A wonderful experience, it receives my warm and most hearty recommendation.

Young @ Heart is available in the library's Documentary DVD section.