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The Choir (Film)
Rating: M
Running Time: 82
Country: South Africa
Director: Michael Davie
Distributor: Gil Scrine
Release Date: June 04, 2009
Film Worth: $14.00
FILMINK rates movies out of $20 - the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth“…a special film indeed.”
Sometimes amongst true horror, something incongruously beautiful can emerge and actually thrive. That unusual fact has perhaps never been depicted with such stunning clarity as it is in the deeply moving and enjoyably unsentimentalised documentary The Choir. Don’t let the title fool you: this isn’t about a group of Sunday school singers, or even a bunch of people who have experienced life’s hard knocks. The singers in this choir are literally living in hell.
Director Michael Davie (a Zimbabwe-born Aussie with a long history in television reportage who makes his feature debut here) throws the audience in at the deep end right from the beginning, introducing us to the casual horrors of South Africa’s broiling Leeukwop Prison, a mess of damaged, barely policed humanity where rape is an everyday occurrence and boys have their eyes gouged out with broken light bulbs. Nestled in amongst the nastiness, however, is an oasis of humanity. Lorded over by convicted armed robber and inveterate hard-man Coleman Mgogodlo, the choir provides not just a chance for the prisoners to sing, but also to temporarily escape the cruelty around them. It’s here that angry young man – but gifted singer – Jabulani Shabangu finds a new purpose in life.
Ready made for a feature film adaptation (Charles S. Dutton and Derek Luke – get ready to roll!), The Choir is directed with artful restraint by exciting talent Davie, and comes packed with moments of staggering power (a female counselor bravely tells a group of prisoners of her own rape, leading to a surprising response) and absolute joy.
Structured almost like a sports film (the choir competes in a big, climactic competition with other prison choirs), The Choir is as thrilling as it is emotionally engaging. This is a special film indeed: don’t miss it.