ALLELUJAH. UK 2023. Starring Jennifer Saunders, David Bradley, Russell Tovey, Bally Gill, Judi Dench, Derek Jacobi. Directed by Richard Eyre, 99 minutes. Rated M (Coarse language.)
This British film is based on the play of the same name by Alan Bennett and it boasts a Britbox cast of acting luminaries in an ensemble work of heart. In some ways, it is a cri de coeur for that very British institution – the NHS. However, what is apparent in the film, a drama-comedy, is how awkwardly these two genres sit together. The audience can laugh at the humour pulsing through the geriatric facility and shed tears over the poignancy of lives as they lose agency and no longer have families who can care for them.
In Yorkshire, the “Beth”, a small 24-bed hospital held in great affection by locals, is under threat of closure. Bureaucrats in Westminster deem it too expensive for its size and not fulfilling its efficiency forecast. We meet the doctors and nurses whose expertise and kindness eases the latter stages of life for elderly who can no longer live independently or whose medical situation is grave. A film crew is on hand to record the daily life and interactions of these geriatric residents as they rehearse for a concert to honour their long-serving and loyal matron.
The film starts with a voice-over narration from Dr Valentine (Gill), an Indian doctor who states unequivocally that he loves old people. This sets the tone for the film and the narrative which supports the dignity and highlights the personality of many of the patients at the hospital. However, the indignities of old age are not avoided and all of which are dealt with without revulsion, just briskly as part of the job of nursing elderly residents whose controls, mental and physical, are loosening. The group scenes of reminiscence and music therapy are fun. The scratchiness and unfiltered comments of old people, herded together by energetic staff, enable a couple of appreciative laughs and nods of recognition from the audience.
We meet these older people, some intimately as in the character, Mary, a former librarian obsessed with marginalia played with quiet economy by Dame Judi Dench. This obsession and her later use of the iPad and her “filming at the edges” will create [Spoiler Alert] an unexpected narrative jolt towards the end of the film. Mr Colman (Bradley), best known as Filch in the Harry Potter series, is an inarticulate former miner whose son is charged with organising the closure. This is a close study of filial love, duty and regret and the chasm of misunderstanding that can impair such relationships. The viewer is a witness to Colman’s physical deterioration, his memories and the slow dancing of the Bossa Nova with the matron that holds him warm towards the end of his life.
We see repeatedly the staff going above and beyond to make the lives of their residents comfortable and happy.
Jacobi is superb as the former schoolmaster, irascible and superior, with his orotund vocalising and wanting desperately to be freed, not from the jaws of death, but the jaws of life. His reference to the poem ‘10 Types of Hospital Visitor’ recurs pointedly later in the film. A small part featuring Julia Mackenzie (that very steady and practical Miss Marple) as 92-year-old dementia victim Mrs Maudsley is sad viewing as she repeats forlornly “It was my house” and dies a couple of days later, bedbound and bruised.
Holding the “Beth” together is Alma Gilpin (Saunders) the nurse who administrates, find beds, is kind and practical, occasionally brusque, stalks the wards to check on patients and chat with them. She still gets her hands dirty and self identifies as a woman of deeds not words. Despite the depredations of age, she believes that those under her watch must have the best care and treatment available on a constantly stretched budget. She understands the sedative impact of morphine and milk. As Dr Valentine says to her when discussing the hospital’s financial difficulties, “When someone gets a bed they get all we have to offer.” In this role, Saunders realistically creates one of those sturdy, no-nonsense, old-school nurses – the sort we all hope our loved ones have when they are hospitalised or in residential care.
This film has pathos and humour and a great cast. It is uneven in its telling, but many of the scenes will strike a chord with viewers who may have had experiences with this sector. It is aimed a certain demographic and flag waves for the inestimable work that is done by all those who keep hospitals and aged care centres running – from the CEO to the volunteer ladies in the kiosk.
Humour softens some of the more adverse realities of this story with lines such as there is No cure for old age and even old people don’t like old people. Finally, Allelujah is a gentle celebration of the kindness and expertise of those who care for the elderly, the reality that old age is not for the faint-heated and that there is still a lot of colour, movement and reconnection to be enjoyed, even as life slows down.
Transmission
Released 6 April 2023