The Choral is a British historical drama that transports us to the dark days of the First World War, when news of violence and constant loss permeated the air in British cities, with choral groups and their performances still hoping to offer some respite. The plot revolves around one such group in the small town of Ramsden, who come together to perform Edward Elgar's "The Dream of Gerontius," despite the difficult circumstances. With strong performances, especially from Ralph Fiennes, The Choral is a truly British drama with a certain somberness, and will be particularly enjoyed by those interested in the activities of choral groups in wartime Europe.
Set in 1916 in the fictional town of Ramsden, in Yorkshire, England, The Choral begins with two young men, Ellis and Lofty, returning from a day of duck hunting. Back on the streets of Ramsden, they go about their usual routines. Lofty works as a postman, and Ellis follows him on his bicycle. Due to the dire circumstances, the letters sent at that time were mostly obituaries, making Lofty's job hardly pleasant.
Director: Nicholas Hytner
Writers: Alan Bennett, Stephen Beresford
Stars: Taylor Uttley, Oliver Briscombe, Amara Okereke
However, he and Ellis try to find the silver lining, like any teenagers, by considering the possibility of finding emotionally vulnerable young women to be their new lovers. Walking through the village, they see a poster announcing that the local choir is holding auditions for new members, as some of the former choir members have gone off to war or even died in service.
Ellis and Lofty initially consider attending the audition, as one of the choir leaders, Herbert Trickett, asks them to, since Lofty had been a member of another choir. But Ellis has some reservations, as joining the small-town Ramsden Choral Society isn't a particularly exciting prospect, and he fears it will be a similar failure to his enrollment in the night school program, which ultimately never took off. However, the young men quickly change their minds when they see a young woman named Mary audition for the choir. Just to woo her romantically and impress her, Ellis and Lofty join the choir, as Mary's brilliant voice immediately selects her. Thus, the rejuvenated Ramsden Choral Society begins preparations for an upcoming performance, though further complications lie ahead.
Herbert Trickett and the other person in charge of the choir service, Councilor Bernard Duxbury, who also owns the mill that forms the backbone of the village's economy, realize that their current choir director has enlisted in the military, meaning they must fill the vacancy as soon as possible. Despite their serious reservations, they decide to contact a talented but controversial musician named Dr. Henry Guthrie, who has recently returned to England after spending many years in Germany. With no other viable option, Guthrie is chosen as the new choir director, accepting the position and taking charge of the group, motivated by a desire to bring some artistic delight to a world consumed by death and darkness.
The choir makes several unusual decisions, beginning with the appointment of Dr. Henry Guthrie as the new choir director, given the man's controversial past. Guthrie is a gay man living in a largely conservative England, and although he never speaks openly about his sexuality in the film, the villagers are well aware of it, suggesting he has never tried to hide it. This aligns with Guthrie's attitude toward other aspects of life, as he is also very open and unapologetic about his love for German society and, in particular, his appreciation for art. For many years, Guthrie lived in Germany, where he pursued music by choice, as similar professional positions were also available to him in England. When asked about it, he speaks candidly about how Germans truly value artists and musicians, unlike most of British society.
With this, the film attempts to question the extreme nationalism and patriotism that often lead to chauvinism in much of the world even today, perhaps warning us how current society exhibits the same patterns as that which existed during the First World War. Guthrie is expected to speak ill of Germany simply because his homeland, England, is at war with the country where he truly found his home, and he flatly refuses to tolerate such false nationalist pride. He often incorporates German into his speeches, quoting great philosophers and writers from the country. As a result, Guthrie is ridiculed and mocked in the streets of the English town, and things turn serious when someone throws a brick through the window of the building where he lives.
The ongoing First World War continues to impact the choir as a whole, and some of its members personally. Councillor Bernard Duxbury is one of the members most affected by the war, having lost his son in it and still grappling with the emotional weight of such a loss. Guthrie himself faces a similar situation when a messenger announces that the British have sunk the German battleship Pommern while the choir is rehearsing. The news is immediately celebrated by the British, who proudly sing their national anthem in honor of the brave warriors who defeated the enemy, but for Guthrie, this is utterly heartbreaking news.
It turns out that Guthrie's lover had enlisted in the German army and taken a position on the battleship Pommern, and there has been no contact between them since. Now, with the battleship sunk by British forces, Guthrie realizes that his lover is dead and that a reunion is no longer possible. But like the other characters in the film, Guthrie doesn't suffer an emotional breakdown and instead keeps the matter to himself, sharing it only with his pianist, Robert. When the authorities draft young men for the war, Robert decides to officially refuse his call-up, so he faces a trial before the draft board, with Guthrie as a witness. Despite his best efforts, the jingoistic board refuses to release Robert, perhaps especially after discovering that he is also gay, something frowned upon in a religious country.
Other young men in the choir are also called up for military service, and some decide to postpone their draft by showcasing their participation in the choral service, which was highly prestigious at the time. A few weeks into rehearsals, Guthrie decides to change some of the religious content of "Gerontius's Dream" and instead use it to address the hardships of ordinary people during the war. Therefore, it transforms the two central characters of the oratorio, originally divine figures, into the most relatable figures of the time: a young man returning from military service after being seriously injured and a young nurse tending to him. Thus, the work, or at least the intended work, revolves around war and the tremendous hardships it brings to society.
Along with all the other themes, the desperate situation of young people, and especially their struggles with the complexities of romance, also finds its way into The Chorus. The dilemma of love, in particular, unfolds through the struggles of a young woman named Bella, who is already a member of the chorus. Bella's fiancé, Clyde, is away on military service at the beginning of the film and has been missing in action for some time. The young woman has clearly been affected by the lack of news about her lover, but she has also, to some extent, accepted her fate and begun to move on. When the young people join the choir at the beginning of the film, Bella and Ellis fall in love, and she gradually begins to develop feelings for him.
Bella even admits to her friends that she now wishes she knew Clyde had died in the war so she could seriously reflect on her life with Ellis. But the whole situation is turned upside down when Clyde suddenly appears at her door one day, having lost an arm in the war but having survived. Although he still wants to be with Bella, she can't bring herself to love him and prefers to spend time with Ellis. Bella first goes through the terrible ordeal of accepting the possibility that her lover died in the war, and then through the guilt of being in love with someone else even though her former boyfriend has returned. The situation is equally painful for Clyde, who had drawn strength from the hopeful prospect of being reunited with his lover someday and now has to watch Bella with someone else after returning home safe and sound.
He reminds Elgar that his first work was a modification of this nature and wants to emphasize that he and his group were simply trying to modernize "Gerontius's Dream." But none of his words had any effect, and Edward Elgar immediately revoked the official permission he had granted for the performance, meaning the show could no longer take place. However, encouraged by the others, Guthrie proposes that the event be free for the performers' friends and family, which doesn't require official authorization since no financial gain would be made. Thus, the choral group finally performs their work successfully, as their intention had always been to practice art and not necessarily to make a profit.
The choir ends with Ellis and Lofty being called up for military service along with some of the other young men in the group. Despite the uncertainty hanging over their lives, the young men try to make the most of the time they have left. One of them, Mitch, had been falling in love with Mary, and she reciprocated his feelings, so now he tries to get closer to her. Mitch begs Mary to at least keep a close eye on him so she can remember him if he never returns. But the sadness surrounding the whole affair intensifies when Mary refuses to be intimate with her boyfriend, simply because she has made a pact with God not to commit such an immoral act so that Mitch will receive divine protection in the war and be able to return to her.
Lofty visits the local sex worker, Mrs. Bishop, for the first and perhaps last time, as he had always longed to, and finds solace in her arms. Ellis bids farewell to his beloved Bella, while Guthrie remains in Ramsden, possibly waiting for his choir to reunite. However, his close friend and pianist, Robert, does not meet a happy fate, as he is arrested by the military police for refusing to serve his country at the end of the film.
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