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 June 2008 Back to Table of Contents Back to Archives Main Page Section: Life & Leisure Young at Heart and Ready to Rock By John Hakes
And clearly, the increasingly popular group — which counts about two dozen elderly songbirds among its ranks — is wide awake, energetic, and eager to entertain, if not for their enthusiastic concert-goers, then for themselves and their own spiritual well-being. And much like the film charting its work and play, the vocal group serves to inspire its audiences. Young@Heart (rated PG, 108 minutes), a Fox Searchlight-produced effort from English documentarian Stephen Walker, leaves no excuses for the more youthful in this world to spend their lives on the sidelines. It also shatters any assumption that the “Greatest Generation” may be quietly and meekly waiting to pass on, proving its ranks are exploring the kind of recreation and lifestyle once thought to be relegated to those their junior. Think there’s nothing “rock ‘n roll” about Young@Heart? You’d be mistaken. Baby-Boomers and Generation Xers have delighted in ruffling the collective feathers of their Depression-era predecessors, first with Elvis Presley, then with the Beatles and Rolling Stones, continuing with the Sex Pistols and Sonic Youth and right up to the 2000s with Radiohead and Coldplay. But what could be more rock ‘n roll than a feisty group with an average age of 80 not only accepting — but absolutely embracing — what their generation has long considered little more than lewd noise? Heck, the group even borrows a page from rockabilly wild child Johnny Cash and perform for a group of prisoners in one of the most heartfelt stretches of the feel-good 108-minute feature. And at one point, music videos within the film feature a Young@Heart member getting a tattoo parlor and later show members romping through an amusement park before lifting off for a hot-air balloon ride. Walker’s narration acknowledges his film’s subjects are grandparents, “but unlike any grandparents I’ve ever known,” and at times make him seem to himself “a miserable kid.” The film follows seven weeks’ worth of preparations and rehearsals for the spring 2007 “Alive & Well” concert in the group’s hometown of Northampton, Massachusetts, seamlessly taking its audience through a gamut of joy, frustration, belly laughs, grief and so many points between. The recipe is simple: Young@Heart’s members, led by unrelentingly patient and energetic director Bob Cilman, diligently learn songs from scratch and belt them out from the heart. None of it would seem out of the ordinary if the songs weren’t James Brown’s “I Feel Good,” the Talking Heads’ “Life During Wartime” or Sonic Youth’s “Schizophrenia.” The selections show that neither Cilman nor the group’s members are afraid to tackle the most cutting-edge of music, especially the kind their generation is supposed to have long ago condemned. The group members’ sense of camaraderie and accountability to their ranks and commitment to the material is impressive. One 83-year-old member, a cancer survivor, concedes that he recently tossed aside his doctor’s orders to stay home and accompanied the group on a European tour. The documentary also reveals that while the group’s members live up to their name, they must also deal with the issues that go hand-in-hand with their advancing age — many live in nursing homes or assisted living facilities, and one is a great-great grandmother. They’re defiant, yet far from immune to deteriorating health; young in spirit, yet by no means exempt from frailty. What Young@Heart has to offer, especially to its younger audiences, is that their grandparents and great-grandparents are finally taking advantage of some “me time.” They’ve endured an economic collapse, a world war, parenthood and the 20th Century’s trials and tribulations, and are now making up for lost time. All this certainly couldn’t be construed, however, as self-indulgence. Young@Heart concerts, like the one featured in the film, are invariably packed with enthusiastic crowds. And those audiences, as seen in the film’s opening minutes, offer a standing ovation by night’s end. After the film’s closing minutes, there’s a temptation to do the same. John Hakes is a writer, Buffalo State graduate, and North Buffalo resident. back to top back to table of contents Current Issue | About Forever Young | Where to Find | Advertise | Our Advertisers | Community Calendar | Contest | Clubs | Contact Us | Archives | Home |
