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15 years ago, they promised to sing in each other’s funerals.
But now the joke has become reality.
Their beloved conductor, Ivar, has been diagnosed with cancer and has just 3 months left to live. But he refuses to die before their biggest gig ever: Warming up for Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne on Midsummer’s Eve in front of 10.000 people.
The song and the brotherhood in choir gives Ivar strength to carry on longer than the doctors thought was ever
possible – the music becomes life-prolonging. Ivar’s persistence to conduct until he dies makes the men think
about some of life’s biggest questions; When you are doing everything for the last time – what is there to live for?
During the last 15 years, the inner life of The Men’s Choir has been a well kept secret. Having some well known faces from media and the music scene among them, the masculine men have been very protective of themselves; It’s a brotherhood where what happens in the choir remains in the choir.
But as the conductor knew he was about to die, the film-makers got the opportunity to document these rowdy middle aged tattooed men, observing how they change both as individuals and as a group as Ivar gets sicker and sicker.
At first sight, The Men’s Choir is a group of rough, vulgar, funny yet sometimes sexist men enjoying drinking beer, telling jokes and singing together. Seeing the movie, we want the audience to feel this way about them too, and – based on their prejudices – maybe wanting to take out distance. But slowly as we’ll reveal more layers, we see how these assertive and tough men turns into sensitive, caring and courageous people, who behind their manly masks really tries to find ways to express their love for each other as the first among them is dying.
We believe this film will expand people’s understanding of what is is to be a man in an environment of men, and that hiding our weaknesses necessarily isn’t the best or only option when we’re dealt a bad hand. There are many sides to being a man, and it is in fact possible for men to talk about their feelings and show that they care about their buddies without being sissies – even if you’ve passed 50 …
Throughout filming The Men’s Choir and Ivars last months together, we were reminded of how important it is for us humans to belong, and that we all share the fundamental desire to find a meaning with our lives – no matter how tough we may look on the outside.
We hope this heartbreaking drama, placed in an everyday life, will make the audience feel the same way.
