By Joanne Sargent
Contributor
Military Wives, our next Shuswap Film Society movie, is inspired by true events involving the spouses of British soldiers who form the U.K.’s first military wives’ choir.
Brought to you by the director of The Full Monty, we expect this crowd-pleasing dramedy to be popular so we’ve added an extra matinee.
Their husbands’ unit has been deployed to Afghanistan and the women at Flitcroft Garrison cope with loneliness and trying to keep their minds off the horrible possibilities over which they have no control.
To keep the women’s spirits up, Kate (Kristen Scott Thomas), the wife of a colonel, initiates the idea of forming a choir. Lisa gets roped into helping and the two women couldn’t be more different. As a long-time military wife, Kate is a stickler for decorum whereas Lisa has a more laid-back improvisational style. The strong-willed women jockey for control of the choir but gradually form an alliance and succeed in starting something wonderful.
The choir is a motley assortment of loveable misfits tapping into previously unexplored talents. Kate and Lisa are challenged to wrangle their ragtag crew into shape when they are invited to perform at Royal Albert Hall in London. There’s laughter, tears and triumph all round as the choir awkwardly finds its way into unison and the women learn they are “stronger together” (the motto of the real-life group that inspired the movie).
In Military Wives, we see how resilient and brave the spouses of military personnel have to be. And it’s about people coming together to get through hard times, something we can all relate to today.
Military Wives plays at 1, 4 and 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31 at the Salmar Classic. Wear a mask (because it’s Hallowe’en and all).
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