Robert Emms

The Choral

09/11/25

Cineworld, Ediburgh

The year is 1916 and in the fictional Yorkshire town of Ramsden, the local choral society is drawing up plans for its next production – but the depredations of war have taken their inevitable toll. Most of the village’s males are either away fighting or already dead. Yet, ironically, with so many of them buried on the Western Front, the most under-employed person on the society’s committee is Mr Trickett (Alun Armstrong), the local undertaker.

The choral’s leader, Alderman Bernard Duxbury (Roger Allam), is painfully aware that his own voice is at best, average but, as the man who provides most of the funds for these productions – and who badly needs distraction after the death of his own son in the trenches – he presses ahead with his plans for the next show, in which he fully expects to sing the lead. 

With the former musical director recently enlisted, Duxbury is keen to acquire the services of Dr Henry Guthrie (Ralph Fiennes) as his replacement, but here too lie problems. Guthrie makes no secret of the fact that he lived and worked for several years in (whisper it) Germany! There are many locals who feel this taints him irrevocably – and why does he spend so much time in the library checking out news articles about the German navy? But other members of the committee, Mr Fyton (Mark Addy) and Mr Horner (Robert Emms), have to grudgingly admit that the man is a real talent.

But once they have him on board, what piece of music can the society possibly perform? Nearly every title they come up with has been written by a German! Eventually, Guthrie alights upon The Dream of Gerontius by Edward Elgar, a suitably British composer. Duxbury gives the title role his best endeavour, but it’s clear that something’s not working…

This original screenplay by Alan Bennett, directed by Nicholas Hytner, could so easily be one of those traditional feel-good features, with the plucky inhabitants of Ramsden coming together to create a masterpiece and performing it to a packed auditorium of spellbound locals – and, while this isn’t so very far from what’s actually delivered here, the telling steers clear of schmaltz and offers something more gritty, nuanced and realistic. 

Guthrie enlists many of his performers from the local hospital where soldiers, recovering from their injuries, are happy to have something else to concentrate on. And for the role of Gerontius, how about young soldier, Clyde (Jacob Dudman)? He has returned to his hometown minus his right arm, only to find that the girl he loves, Bella (Emily Fairn), has fallen for another boy in his absence. If ever there was someone with a real understanding of loss, here he is – and luckily, he has a decent voice.

The production gradually starts to come together. When Salvation Army worker, Mary (Amara Okereke), innocently invites Sir Edward Elgar (Simon Russell Beale) along to see a rehearsal, nobody expects that he’ll actually turn up… or that he will turn out to be such a self-aggrandising bellend, maybe the one man who can stop the show in its tracks. There’s a genuine sense of jeopardy as realisation dawns.

But the element of The Choral that I find the most affecting is the depiction of the youths of the town, who use the whole enterprise as a means to meet members of the opposite sex, to have some fun and enjoy a laugh, all the time painfully aware that the clock is ticking, and that their 18th birthdays are fast approaching… along with their call-up papers.

The Choral is an engaging and melancholic piece that serves as a reminder of the awful injustice of war, and the healing power of communal art in times of tribulation.

4 stars

Philip Caveney

Apostasy

06/08/18

I come to this film from a position of tolerance; I’m an atheist and – honestly, from this angle – most religions seem pretty strange. Alongside their (sometimes dubious, but usually well-intentioned) moral codes, they all impose a few seemingly arbitrary restrictions, and it’s easy to poke fun at these. But fundamentalism – of any kind, political or religious – poses more of a problem than any moderate view, I think, and the few Jehovah’s Witnesses I know are lovely people. Indeed, one of my favourite aunts is one. I don’t harbour any ill-feeling towards this particular belief system.

It’s important to make this point, because Apostasy doesn’t make it easy to view Jehovah’s Witnesses in a positive light. This assured debut from writer/director Daniel Kokotajlo is an angry piece, railing against the inflexibility of the church’s Elders, pointing out – again and again – how their strict adherence to the rules shows a complete lack of humanity. And fair enough, it’s his story to tell: he grew up in this community; this reflects his own experience. But he clearly has an axe to grind, even if it’s not with the church’s followers.

Molly Wright plays Alex, a quiet eighteen-year old Jehovah’s Witness, keen to dedicate herself to God. She wants to prove herself worthy of a place in the ‘New System’ – even though she has a medical condition that means refusing a blood transfusion could cost her life. Her mum, Ivanna (Siobhan Finneran), supports her decision; she too believes implicitly in the tenets of her faith. But Alex’s sister, Luisa (Sacha Parkinson) is not so sure: she’s suspicious of the edicts issued by a remote governing body; she’s restless; she wants out. And when she finds herself pregnant, she’s disfellowshipped and the whole congregation – including her family – is ordered to shun her. But nothing shakes Ivanna’s faith: not one daughter’s ill health, nor the other’s banishment. How can she defy the church? She truly believes her children will be damned if they don’t do as they are told. She does what she has to do, and tries to guide them to the light.

This is a slow and sombre film, and Siobhan Finneran’s compelling performance is the heart and soul of it. She doesn’t do much; Ivanna is still, outwardly composed; her turmoil is all internal and unexpressed – and yet it’s there, clearly, conveyed in subtle tensing of muscles and clouds behind the eyes. Sacha Parkinson and Molly Wright are also very good; they are both engaging young actors, appealing and identifiable. Jameses Quinn and Foster are suitably implacable as the Elders, and it’s interesting to see trainee Steven (Robert Emms) begin to change as he’s accepted into their ranks, parroting their words.

Kokotajlo’s direction is interesting: the whole film has a dreamy quality, as if it’s slightly removed from reality. There’s a subtle shift in light and colour that renders it quite different – effectively symbolising the skewed vision of these JWs.

A fascinating insight into a little understood religion; this won’t change hearts and minds, but it will certainly make you think.

4.3 stars

Susan Singfield