2025
Certificate 15 – DRAMA
Director: Nicholas Hytner
With Ralph Fiennes,
Roger Allam
Runtime: 113 mins
Ramsden, Yorkshire, 1916. The chorus master and most of the men of the ambitious local Choral Society have volunteered for the front, so under the direction of the demanding, driven Dr. Guthrie (Ralph Fiennes), the Choral recruits a crop of teenage boys and girls. Together they discover the joys of singing and the urgency of desire as the new boys come to terms with their imminent conscription into the army.
WHY WATCH THIS FILM? It’s a Nicholas Hytner/Alan Bennett collaboration, like The Lady in the Van and The History Boys
“This wintry tale of art blooming in adversity is far from a schematic feel-good jaunt. Set in the fictional West Riding town of Ramsden in 1916, when young men are being plucked from their community and sent to a front line in Europe they can barely comprehend, it’s an anthem for doomed youth in a familiar Bennett key: wry, melancholic, sneakily profound.” The Telegraph
“By focusing on a choral society, the film presents a different take on wartime. Whilst it does acknowledge the sadness of the ongoing conflict, the film, through its practicality and light humour, offers a hopeful interlude.” The Upcoming