Music therapy of various sorts for seniors is the focus of two different documentaries and one indie drama: Young@Heart, Alive Inside, and Unfinished Song.
I. Young@Heart (2007)
This Rotten Tomatoes–scored 90% documentary stars senior citizens in Massachusetts, ages 73 to 93, who participate in the Young@Heart Chorus that performs contemporary songs.
“The movie is valuable in that it tackles head-on subjects that are verboten in our fastidious pop culture: old age and death,” states Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian. “Two of the chorus die uncontroversially of old age in the course of the film and their passing is greeted sadly but without inordinate fuss by the others, who are, quite visibly, being kept alive by the thrill of touring and performing.”
II. Unfinished Song (2012)
Tagline: Music is the cure for the common crank.
From the official description of this dramedy: “Arthur (Terence Stamp) gets introduced to, a curmudgeon old soul perfectly content with sticking to his dull daily routine until his beloved wife (Vanessa Redgrave) introduces him to a spirited local singing group led by the youthful and charming Elizabeth (Gemma Arterton).”
“Funny” is not the main sentiment that comes to my own mind, though. Yes, there’s humor—and thankfully; but there’s also plenty of poignancy.
Stephen Holden, New York Times: “The suds machine kicks in from the outset when Marion, who is being treated for cancer, learns she has only months to live. Her fiercely protective husband insists that she stay at home and rest, but Marion, a devoted chorister who is beloved among the group members, insists on continuing for as long as she can. After she dies, about halfway into the movie [Elizabeth] coaxes Arthur to join and participate in a regional choir competition.”
Selected Reviews of Unfinished Song
Stephen Holden, New York Times: “To gag or to weep, that is the question. You may do both while watching ‘Unfinished Song,’ a shamelessly sentimental, manipulative comic tear-jerker…”
Claudia Puig, USA Today: “A moving meditation on aging, illness, family conflicts and long relationships, Unfinished Song…also celebrates life and pays tribute to catchy songs.”
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: “Unfinished Song is Glee for seniors living in the hope of making it to nationals. Hold the cringes…Unfinished Song is better than Glee, way better.”
III. Alive Inside (2014)
This documentary by Michael Rossato-Bennett filmed social worker Dan Cohen and his work with his nonprofit Music & Memory, a program that provides actual music therapy for seniors. As shown in Alive Inside, well-respected neurologist Oliver Sacks (1933-2015) strongly supported the idea behind this program, as music memory is more accessible than other types.
James Thilman, The Huffington Post, quotes Rossato-Bennett’s reaction to witnessing one man’s amazing transformation from this type of music therapy for the aging. “When [Henry] started to emerge from the cocoon that he had been inside of for ten years, we discovered that he wasn’t just a man — he was a poet, he was a singer. He was lost to the world, and when he emerged, I just started crying.”
Henry’s not the only one seen coming alive to the music. A couple others are described by Rob Nelson, Variety: “John, a quiet Army vet who served at Los Alamos, perks up at the sound of the Andrews Sisters, practically dancing in his chair. Denise, a bipolar schizophrenic and Schubert fan, pushes away the walking frame she’d been using every day for two years and begins to dance.”
One notable benefit of music therapy in nursing homes is a significant decrease in the prescription of antipsychotic medications.
