Meet the new penguins — septuagenarians, octogenarians and even the occasional nonagenarian. That would be 70-, 80- and 90-somethings in plain language — the stars of the Sundance Film Festival's Young@Heart, about a senior-citizen chorus group that tries to reclaim a little vigor by tackling punk, rock and R&B songs.
There were moments of poignancy: among them, Fred Knittle, suffering from congestive heart failure and breathing with the aid of an oxygen tank, crooning in a rich, deep voice Coldplay's Fix You, lending the song an entirely different dimension. It's all the more heartbreaking to know his solo rendition was originally planned as a duet.
Only U2 expressed their refusal to use their songs. "Everyone else we could get," Director Stephen Walker said. "Coldplay, no problem at all. They were absolutely fine about it. Talking Heads, really no problem at all. There was a helluva lot of music to clear in the film. We got the Jimi Hendrix estate to sign off, and they came on board. There's a ton of music."
Read the full article and watch the performance of 'Fix You' here
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