Oh dear. It is Peter Bradshaw’s ageism again that spurs me back to the blog when I thought I would stop and consider at the end of this year.
His review of Quartet reveals, in his critique and language, crass ignorance and prejudice about old age. He is condescending: “inmates” of the care home, “ripe characters” “rigours and deterioration of age are imagined rather vaguely” , “it is a movie with the atmosphere of a day centre in which the windows are never open”.
He misses the changes of old age so subtly depicted, he misses the irony of the care home on-screen to the reality of the majority of care homes, he misses the delight of seeing an all old age cast performing wonderfully. He misses the intelligent feel-good effect. This is not escapism. The film does raise the consciousness about what homes for the retired should be like and what we should demand.
What makes me angry is that the two stars he gives to the film might stop Guardian readers from enjoying a thoughtful film about old age.
Please Guardian editor, can you not appoint a different reviewer of films about old people for the sake of your readers?
Old Age and Feature Films 
Rina, My first thought was ‘Does Peter Bradshaw read anyone else- most particularly Rina’s blog?’ It’s a film I’ve not yet seen, but I certainly will. Meanwhile, do we know how old PB is? He must assume that he is immune to what he believes is the aging process. How are the panel members chosen on the Newsnight Review program (Friday night, I think….) Elizabeth
Date: Sat, 29 Dec 2012 08:20:16 +0000 To: ewodell@hotmail.com
I have always wondered on what grounds Bradshaw was appointed to his job. He has an astounding inability to even want to consider the enjoyment of other audiences outside of his own determinedly arthouse perspective. I think The Guardian needs to have the courage to move away from using the one idiosyncratic reviewer for the majority of its reviews, especially given his blinkered perspective.
Thanks for your replies Elizabeth and Claire. Of all the male reviewers Bradshaw really takes the biscuit for ageism. I wonder if Philip French who is 79 will review Quartet in the Observer tomorrow.