FILM
Women must get in tune with each other for a big performance writes Sarah Olowofoyeku T’S a difficult life, and one that the majority of the population don’t Iyesterday know much about. Comedy-drama Military Wives, released in cinemas (Friday 6 March), shines a light on the experiences of the
Courtesy of Lionsgate UK
women left behind when their spouses go on active service and the way they come together to cope. Feelings are running high on the Flitcroft military base on the day that the troops are deployed to Afghanistan. Sadness, stress and anger – the varying emotions run rampant as soldiers For a special performance, the leave their partners once again. They women write a song using words set off as night falls, and their families from letters exchanged between begin six months without them. them and their other halves. The next day, Lisa (Sharon Horgan) Sharon Horgan tells the War begins her new duties. Because Cry that the song was ‘incredibly her husband has been promoted moving’. to sergeant-major, she is now ‘When we were filming, I had responsible for the welfare of the to stop thinking about what I was military wives. As a laidback type, singing, because they’re real she’s content to stick with coffee words from real humans who are mornings and drunken karaoke nights desperately missing someone.’ to help the women get through. Lyrics can be powerful, and they But the colonel’s wife, Kate (Kristin resonate with people no matter what Scott Thomas), has another idea. their situation. The original Military She is uptight, prim and proper, and Wives Choir, who inspired the film, believes in appropriateness. Having hit the right note and won people’s lost her son to the war, she also hearts in 2011 when they reached thinks that the best way to cope is to No 1 in the singles chart with ‘keep busy’. So she pushes Lisa to ‘Wherever You Are’ – a song with put more effort into planning the activities. One of the women suggests a choir (which Lisa would rather call a singing club) and they decide to give it a go. Lisa and Kate clash when it comes to leading the women, but must put their differences aside when the choir are given a big opportunity.
lyrics compiled on the same premise. After the success of their debut single, the real choir have gone on to record three more albums. As well as original compositions and covers of pop songs, the choir sing a number of hymns. Their most recent album, released to mark the centenary of the end of the First World War, features the 19th-century hymn ‘Abide with Me’. It’s a hymn that over the years has offered comfort to countless people going through dark times. The lyrics ask Jesus to be with us, referring to him as ‘help of the
Lyrics can be powerful and resonate with people helpless’; they recognise that in times when ‘change and decay’ are all around, he is the one ‘who changest not’. Whether we are experiencing loss or isolation, or are troubled by what is going on in the world around us, the truth is that Jesus responds when people ask him to abide with them. Whether we ask with a song or with a whisper in our heart, he will hear and come alongside us.
Despite their differences, Lisa and Kate lead the choir together
7 March 2020 • WAR CRY • 3