Customer Reviews

Young@Heart

5 star:		(129)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Young@heart is a mixed chorus composed of singers and band members 70 and above. If you think that means show tunes and old standards, you're wrong. Some of the songs you'll hear covered:

"I feel Good," James Brown
"Purple Haze," Jimi Hendrix
"Schizophrenic," Sonic Younth
"Fix You," Coldplay
"Yes we Can Can," Allen Toussaint
"Forever Young," Joan Baez

This is an amazing group of people. Joe, who at 86 can remember a song in one afternoon, had enough chemo to kill a person, but he was still up on stage. Fred, who has congestive heart failure must sing sitting down with oxygen at his side, is still up performing. Bob, who had a heart attack, was performing his songs from his hospital bed when he had a heart attack.

Their music is in large print. In order to learn their songs, many of them are using a compact disk player for the first time and literally didn't know which side of the disk was up.

They're consummate performers. They dance even if it hurts and they smile for the audience. Even after they'd learned a troop member died an hour before, they gave an amazing free performance at a local prison.

They've discovered the joy of music and they're passing it along to audiences everywhere. I promise you will both laugh and cry in this film. You may also be moved to try some new things. Music brings joy to many lives and it's clearly never too late to get out there and try something new.

Rebecca Kyle, June 2008

It would be a shame if potential viewers of this wonderful movie were fooled by the cheery trailer. This is not just a cute movie about old people incongruously trying to sing rock songs. It is about people stretching beyond their own boundaries, and the boundaries imposed on them by the rest of us, to achieve results that are stirring and soulful. The "Young at Heart" Chorus is a Western Massachusetts musical phenemenon. Twenty some-odd singers, in their 70s, 80s and 90s, meet weekly or more to learn difficult and sometimes aurally painful new music. Led by young (only 53 year old) director Bob Cilman, the group has performed around the world, and also in its Northhampton home. This film follows the group in the 8 weeks prior to an Easter concert.

The film is hilarious and full of heart. There are plenty of shots of oldsters being playful and even flirtatious. But the second half of the film achieves its depth by following former members who battle illness and self-doubt as they prepare for one more shot on stage. The film includes plenty of on-the-scene shots of the chorus practicing, and a few hilarious music videos of their best songs. The "Saturday Night Fever" takeoff, shot in a bowling alley, is both a great musical achievement by these often-ailing singers, and a terrific send-up of the original.

"Young at Heart" is funny, full of genuine pathos and a crowd pleaser. How many concert movies have the audience cheering and applauding a successful performance? Bring the whole family for a great time.

"Young At Heart" is a choir based in Massachusetts that has become so popular they now do tours of Europe. What sets them apart is that the group is made up of senior citizens, ranging in age from 73 to 92, who perform rock songs.

The choir's director is a 53 year old "young man" named Brian who introduces them to songs by the Ramones, Talking Heads, Sonic Youth and others. Much of the doc is focused on the group's rehearsals that are taking place prior to a big upcoming show. Many of the choir members are also interviewed and some even invite the cameras into their home. What comes through is the extraordinary charm, sense of humor and vitality of these wonderful old folks. If I am able to retain the same energy and joy for living in my elderly years I will consider myself fortunate indeed.

The doc climaxes with the group's successful performance at a local concert. Their rendition of Allen Touissant's "Yes We Can" is especially uplifting. Really the entire film was funny, entertaining and inspirational. Go see it!

This was one of the best movies I have ever seen. My father is 81 and has given up on life since my mother died last year. He is getting this DVD for Christmas. The characters are adorable, full of life and talented. My favorite scenes are when they performed for the prisoners and tears were running down the tough guy's faces. And then one of the elderly performing "Fix You" by Coldplay is a classic. Please go see this movie,rent it or buy it for everyone you love. Fantastic!!!!!!!!!

I want to say that this is a movie well worth your time and laughs. It is also very uplifting and gives one a totally different perspective on life and death. It isn't a tired cliche'. It tells the truth about life and death but also tells you that life is to be lived and enjoyed.This chorus is a good example of this. The women are not botoxed; they have all their wrinkles and they look good in them. The men have their paunches but they still believe in themselves,know what their limits are and move beyond them.
To see the faces of those prisoners was priceless. If only they had had people like the ones in this chorus to mentor them.
Please go and take your family and friends.

Often when people explain why they don't like musicals they say, "I just can't believe people would just be talking one minute and then break out into song the next." These same people might not be bothered by loud explosions in space in a science fiction film or a man shooting a six shooter accurately a couple of hundred yards away in a western or a miracle amphibious vehicle that allows its passengers to survive not one but three falls over large waterfalls. But spontaneous song is going just too far.
Maybe it's because we live in a society that spends much money for concerts and downloads to enjoy the music of others while fewer people are making music of their own.
That's not a problem for the members of Young@Heart, a chorus depicted in the documentary movie of the same name. In 1982 this chorus group, whose members are all 70 years old or older, was founded. Initially they performed vaudeville songs like "Yes, We Have No Bananas," but their director, Bob Cilman, pushed the chorus to try something different: rock and roll.
Many of the chorus members had a preference for classical music, opera or the musicals of Rodgers and Hammerstein. But they were willing to take on the challenge of music by the Talking Heads, David Bowie and the Clash (or as the 92 year old member Ellie refers to them, "The Crash".)
The new songs are not always greeted with good cheer. When Cilman is asked how he thinks the members will react to Sonic Youth's "Schizophrenia" he cheerfully says "They'll hate it." But when interviewed, the members insist that the challenge of new music keeps their minds and voices active and alive.
At times, though, I wondered how really new some to the music was to the members. The film was made in 2006. "I Feel Good" is introduced to the singers, and I was thinking that James Brown released that song in 1965. That means that chorus members in their 70's were in their thirties when the song was released. When Mick Jagger is going to turn 65 this year and Paul McCartney just turned the same age, and Elvis would have been eligible to be in Young@Heart if he had lived, it makes one wonder if rock and roll can still be considered a young person's game.
And at times during the film I wondered if the filmmaker (Stephen Walker) and the audiences don't approach the chorus in a condescending manner ("Isn't it cute those old people singing rock songs!") But the group's music is genuinely powerful. The music video of the group singing the Ramone's "Sedated" is energetic and funny. Coldplay's "Fixed" which was meant to be performed as a duet but becomes a solo is heartbreaking.
The members of Young@Heart have a unique understanding of the command in the Psalm 96:1 "Sing to the Lord a new song." So many of us are content to listen to the oldies stations on the radio that play the music of our youth. In church, we want to sing only the songs we know. But that's not what God wants for us. He wants us to sing a new song not just to keep our minds fresh but also our spirits.
Considering the age of the group members, it should not be a surprise that in the film we see the group struggle with greater challenges than tricky rhythms and lyrics. Illness and even death plays a role in this film as it does in the members' lives. Their grace in facing life's ultimate challenges will inspire the view even more than the film's music.

We just watched this movie yesterday and, long before the end, both my girlfriend and I had tears in our eyes. Seeing those old people (average age 80, and one of them is 93!) having so much fun doing what they love to do - perform - with so much energy you just wouldn't believe it. I put this movie in the top 10 (if not higher) most inspirational and moving movies I've ever seen. The concert finale was just phenomenal!

One of the very few films that I could watch again and again. Those folks in the film feel like family to me. Hell, even the jail inmates seemed vulnerable and quite human. I can't stop singing the songs, and can't wait to buy a CD of the soundtrack. A film that can not only renew faith in the human condition, but speaks to the angelic that is hidden within ourselves, and which can come out in community and song...great fun!

It's a lot of fun for an audience of of all ages to listen to a group of 70- to 90-year-olds learn to sing modern music. These seniors are challenged by the unfamiliar tunes and puzzling lyrics, but there is talent in the group and they work hard to put together delightful performances.

But if that's all the film was, it would merely be enjoyable.
I found that it was much more than that. It's a compelling portrait of all the joy and pain in the lives of these individuals. A handful of the singers invite the camera into their homes and we get to peek into their everyday lives and learn why they love to sing. These individuals inspire plenty of smiles and laughter with their playfulness and self-deprecating humor. But it's hard not to feel even stronger feelings of empathy and sadness as the aging singers struggle with their own limitations.

The musical performances, like the characters themselves, are fun and moving at the same time. One performane, a ballad near the end of the film, was probably the most inspired musical performance I've seen in some time.

Young at Heart is one of the best movies I have seen in years. It is heartwarming, inspiring, sad and hilarious. I am 48 and was one of the "younger" members in the audience but I'd bet money not one person didn't love this movie. My absolute favorite part is the "Saturday Night Fever" recreation. Unbelievable! See this movie!