No one has posted about The Choral?

[MsAmerica]

I went to see it, chosen for the good ratings, and the presence of Ralph Fiennes, whom I admire. Unfortunately, it was a big let-down.

In theory, it’s the story of a British town in 1919 staging an community musical performance with locals. They were originally planning to do Bach, but then switched to Elgar, due to anti-German sentiment of WWI. Then, losing their musical director, they are obliged to turn to Fiennes, who is also under a cloud for having lived in Germany.

Given that the writer is Alan Bennett, I expected humor, but no. Given the small-town setting, I expected warmth, but no. There are a lot of sub-threads, mostly dispiriting, about anti-German sentiment, homosexuality, war, death, and god knows what else. Oddly, there’s the jarring inclusion of a token black woman, with, weirdly, no discrimination; I somehow find it hard to believe that she would be not only completely enfolded into the community but even romanced. Or am I completely wrong?

There are many characters but most are unnamed and almost none are distinctive. Little of the process is even seen, nothing about the orchestra, nothing about costumes. So much is missing that I was thinking maybe it’s from a factual book, but there’s no sign of that. Seeing Fiennes now—aging, stocky, sad—making me wistful for the handsome young man of the past. And I didn’t recognize others—so, bizarrely, there were more familiar names in the credits than the cast: screenwriter Bennett, editor Tariq Anwar, costumer Jenny Beavan, composter George Fenton.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/films/5391107-the-choral

Noooo! It was on my list!

There was quite a discussion on it when it came out.

i really enjoyed it the film 😊

I saw it when it came out and, overall, really enjoyed it. Excellent acting, especially Ralph Fiennes. Agree with your comment re strange total acceptance of token black lady (in the pub as well, not so usual for women). Her daughter was slightly more believable - ie being in Salvation Army, who I think would have been accepting. However, for an era when people would have been quite unaccepting otherwise, she was very confident (indeed) and I think that, sadly, she would not have felt comfortable to be so in reality. I think people really were hugely anti-German during both wars, so that seems factual (and understandable in the circumstances). I think it is worth watching though it is a bit OTT in places. I enjoyed the music and I think they were unnecessarily mean in the portrayal of Elgar to suit their plot. I have never thought of him as a mean, petulant vain man. I don't think such a person could write such sublime music (and he had a lot of friends). My sister enjoyed it too.

There was a thread about it when it came out. I only saw it fairly recently. I’d thought that having two serious singers in the vast (Simon Russell Beale and Roger Allam) they’d be singing, so I was disgusted to find SRB only had a testy cameo and RA, who is a baritone, was cast as a bad tenor.

I agree that the Salvation Army might have been accepting of a black participant - my quibble was more of whether the musical group - which seemed to be an established group where they knew each other - would have been equally welcoming

I hope you're not saying that now you'll skip it, due to one negative comment from a stranger online.

I wonder, if there were television commercials, or trailers, if they emphasized the music or the interpersonal exchanges.

I posted on the previous thread (before Christmas, saw it in the cinema). I enjoyed it, it was beautifully shot, thought provoking, well acted, no particular views on the inclusion of black characters.

x posted, I had seen the trailer at the cinema, it focussed on the characters and story more than the music IIRC.