YOUNG @ HEART

“Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father...The elder women as mothers...” (from I Timothy 5:1-2)

My twenty-five-year-old son Jon and I went to the showing of the 2007 documentary “Young @ Heart” at the Costin Room of the Framingham Public Library. What a moving and powerful film!

[I’ve first got to say as sort of a “disclaimer” and in the interest of full disclosure, that several people who are very close to me, and that I respect very much, strongly disagree with me EVER recommending secular films or books, especially any which contain swearing. It DOES bother them when I (an Assemblies of God minister who holds to very conservative theological and social positions) seem to be hypocritical and/or dishonoring to the Lord by doing so. This IS a secular film. I think I counted a total of five swears in 108 minutes. I don’t swear and I don’t care for swearing, but my experience is that a person can and will hear far more swearing if you walk through the streets of downtown Framingham on any particular afternoon!]

“Young @ Heart” is the name of a chorus of senior citizens from Northampton, Massachusetts who (primarily) sing rock songs, and I mean ROCK songs! I read a short blurb about the film in the paper and was very curious about seeing the film. I expected it to be very funny, and parts of it WERE very funny. Watching senior citizens, many of whom are in their 80s and 90s singing the stuff you usually hear played on “Boston’s Classic Rock”; well, it IS a riot! These are people of my parents’ generation and even a little older! The film was NOT a comedy, though. At times, it was very sad. Most of all, it was one of the most inspiring films I’ve seen in a long time.

Musician and artist Bob Cilman created “Young @ Heart” at a senior center in Northhampton in 1982. Originally, the members sang mostly pleasant songs of their generation, but when the group was several years old, they tried one rock song of MY generation which was very popular with their audiences, and the rest is history. Young @ Heart has toured, not only around America, but has also toured Canada, Australia, and Europe!

The documentary was shot by British filmmaker Stephen Walker a couple of years ago, and originally broadcast on “Channel 4” in London. It was so well received on television that Walker got it into some British theaters where it was also a big hit. Last year, Fox Searchlight, a subsidiary of Twentieth-Century Fox, acquired the film and tweaked it to make it “more cinematic”.

“Young & Heart” not only showed a number of the group’s rehearsals and perfomances, but there was also footage of interviews of the group’s members and their families. In addition, it included following some of the seniors on difficult trips to the hospital where very real issues of life and death were being discussed. One of the most moving parts of the movie was watching a concert of “Young @ Heart” at the Hampshire County Jail.

There’s a LOT more I could share, but I’m afraid I’d spoil the film for you!

Really, this was GREAT! I had no idea the group “Young @ Heart” even existed, but if they ever perform in the MetroWest area, I’ll be there!

The film “Young @ Heart” just came out on D.V.D. this month. As you can tell, I highly recommend it!