Young @ Heart Film Analysis

Young @ Heart

There are countless known stereotypes that allude to senior citizens; many people believe: senior citizens are lazy, isolated and in poor health, the list could go on and on. The documentary Young @ Heart totally eliminates these stereotypes and discards many of the misconceptions people have towards senior citizens. Young @ Heart documents a chorus of senior citizens, directed by Bob Cilman, as they rehearse for their monumental “Alive and Well” performance in their hometown. The average age of the chorus is 80 and the majority of members admits to preferring classical music, however, Bob Cilman has them practice and perform R&B, pop, rock, alternative and punk music. The filmmaker pays a visit to some of the members in their own home. They interview, Eileen Hall, Joe Benoit, Fred Knittle and Bob Salvini, who not

The very first scene of the movie is the entire chorus gathering around for the first day of rehearsal; Bob Cilman says they have seven new songs they are going to try to learn. Bob Cilman, who is younger than the Young @ Heart chorus members, speaks louder and slower so that each member can hear him. In one of the scenes, they are all about to go and perform at a local prison. While on the bus they get news that one of their members, Joe Benoit, had passed away the night before. The members have to take the sad news and use it as inspiration, they dedicated their performance to Joe and his family.

The documentary Young @ Heart definitely touched my heart. The majority of chorus members have more energy than me. They are beyond dedicate and bless to be members of the Young @ Heart chorus. Even in their worse physical health many members were still practicing and thinking about their “Alive and Well” performance. They dedicate so much time and energy to their performances and at their opening show it was beautiful to see how all of their hard work paid