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Author Archives: rinaross
KEEPING MUM (2005) or “it is the least a mother can do”
Like Tatie Danielle, Keeping Mum is difficult to categorise. The reviewers call it a black comedy and their assessments range from Ebert and Rope “It’s probably one of the funniest films to come out of England in years” to Philip French “laboured … Continue reading
Posted in Ageing, Film Analysis, motherhood
Tagged Ageing, british comedies, caring, daughter, family, grandmother, housekeeper, intergeneration, mother, mother and grownup family, mother/daughter, murder, nanny, oldwoman/teenager, sermon, song of songs, teenager, unhappy family, vicar
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The Second Marigold Hotel
“Just because I’m looking at you when you talk, don’t think I’m listening — or even interested.” Maggie Smith to Judy Dench I had a free couple of hours and decided reluctantly to see The Second Exotic Marigold Hotel as a … Continue reading
TATIE DANIELLE (1990) The little old woman
” I am a lonely old woman in the hands of a lunatic.” Tatie Danielle It is difficult to write about Tatie Danielle. A film hard to categorise. It is not black comedy nor satire as it is sometimes described being … Continue reading
Posted in Ageing, Ageism, Film Analysis
Tagged Ageing, Ageism, anger, beauty salon, bourgeois, care home, carer, dogooders, film reception, flowers, hair, loneliness, nasty old woman, old people incontinence, petit bourgeois, Tatie Danielle
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BABOUSSIA (2003) self sacrificing great grandmother
I have used italics for film quotes and bold italics for director’s quotes mainly from http://www.kinoglaz.fr/u_fiche_film.php?num=60 in French or the extras from the DVD. I have used the spelling of Baboussia used on the DVD cover but there are different … Continue reading
Posted in Ageing, Film Analysis
Tagged Ageing, carer, caring, daughter, director's comment, family, family and war, grandmother, great-granddaughter, grief, intergeneration, mother, mother/daughter, passive old woman, representation old woman, rural/urban, Russia, self sacrificing old woman
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SINCE OTAR LEFT… (2003) or Women’s Lives.
“Pour moi qui suis issue d’un univers familial plutôt matriarcal, je pouvais y mettre beaucoup de ma propre vie, parler des rapports mère-filles qui m’ont structuré ou destructuré…” What made me choose this film for our October film group session? … Continue reading
MUM AND ME – SUE BOURNE TV DOCUMENTARY
When I started my blog on the representation of old women I needed to limit my field of research. I decided to exclude animation, because I am not very versed in the genre, and documentaries because the area might be … Continue reading
MAMADRAMA (2001) The Jewish Mother Stereotype
http://www.jewishfilm.org/Catalogue/films/mamadrama.html This will be a very personal view of the documentary Mamadrama: The Jewish Mother in Cinema.(2001). When I arrived from the Middle East and settled in London I was puzzled by the expression “She is such a Jewish Mother”. … Continue reading
Posted in Ageing, Ageism, documentary
Tagged Ageing, Ageism, daughter, documentary, family, grotesque old woman in film, intergeneration, mother and son, mother/daughter, sons and mothers
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THE OLD WOMAN WHO WALKED IN THE SEA (1991)
I found a VHS subtitled copy of The Old Woman Who Walked in the Sea. I had seen the film ages ago but must have decided not to show it to the film group because of its language. Now when … Continue reading
Posted in Ageing, Conferences and comments
Tagged Ageing, Ageism, Jeanne Moreau, love old woman/young man
2 Comments
THE STRAIGHT STORY 2
Ageist language I could not resist flagging. From the NFT viewing notes of Charulata (1964 – dir. Satyajit Ray) I quote : … I saw old women doddering out of the cinema with tears in their eyes …. the ancient women emerging … Continue reading
THE PROPRIETOR (1996)
During my research on a certain subject I sometimes come across a bit of information that seems irrelevant and that I dismiss automatically and yet it seems that my brain has retained it without knowing where it came from. In … Continue reading
UNHOOK THE STARS (1996)
I am glad I rediscovered this film after seeing Opening Night and am once again surprised that such a relevant film has never been mentioned in any list of older women in film that I have come across. Nick Cassavetes in his interviews declares … Continue reading
LOVELY STILL (2008)
I must thank Stacy Davies (University of California) who made a passing remark about Lovely Still on this blog. Otherwise I am not aware that this film is mentioned anywhere by anybody else in the literature about ageing and films. It had … Continue reading
Posted in Ageing
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OPENING NIGHT (1977) : Inside I feel 18 years old
In my previous post I analysed a 4 minutes scene where Myrtle is challenged about her inability to act the role of an older woman, Virginia, or disclose her age. This crucial scene occurs nearly half way through the film. It … Continue reading
Posted in Ageing, Conferences and comments, Film Analysis
Tagged Ageing, Ageism, chronological age, Gena Rowlands, Inside I feel 18, John Cassavetes, media, old woman, performance, photo old woman, play within a film, rehearsal, representation old woman, sense of fun, spiritualist, vision
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OPENING NIGHT: age does not matter?
I cannot remember when I first saw Cassavetes’ Opening Night (1977), maybe before I got interested in the representation of old women in film. All I remember is that I came out of the cinema bewildered. I did not understand its style, … Continue reading
Love of the cinema and generations.
As you can see in the comments on the Film Guide section, Paola has reminded me of two Cassavetes films that deal with women and age. She wrote her MA dissertation on : Gena Rowlands et le renouveau de la … Continue reading
Posted in Ageing, Conferences and comments
Tagged Ageing, ageing actor, Cassavetes, Gena Rowlands, grandmother, intergeneration, old woman/young boy
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Le Week-End (2013) or Modern Paris and Nostalgia.
Le Weekend is a mess. A majority of reviews describe it as a romantic comedy, albeit some qualify this by saying it is a bitter-sweet account of a 30 years old marital relationship. American, British and French critics on the … Continue reading
Posted in Ageing, Film Analysis
Tagged Ageing, coarse language, couple, film references, lifestyle, marital relationship, Paris, still doing it, teenager
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MOOLAADE (2004)
I am overwhelmed by the amount of film work I would like to do and am struggling to keep up. I will mention briefly here Ousmane Sembène’s Moolaadé to signpost it for myself for later consideration. It is a film that cannot be … Continue reading
Posted in Ageing, Ageism
Tagged African films, cutting, daughter, daughter-in-law, family, FGM, film reception, intergeneration, Moolaade, mother/daughter, old woman, representation old woman, Sembene, West Africa
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ADVANCED STYLE (2014): not a work of art.
Oh dear! what can I say ? In my last post I quoted Bazin about reviews: “Let us say that the ideal would be to be able to help efficiently those we like and to have little influence on the … Continue reading
Posted in Ageing, Ageism, Conferences and comments
Tagged advanced style, Ageing, Ageism, broadsheets, clothes, documentary, fashion, looks, media, old women invisibility, reviews
3 Comments
AGEISM AND FILM REVIEWS
I am attending a course on Writing On Film at the Picturehouse Hackney. It is led by Barbara Knorpp and Allan Bairstow. The first session gave me the opportunity of looking at Andre Bazin again. In my youth I used to … Continue reading
Posted in Ageing, Ageism, Conferences and comments
Tagged Ageism, Andre Bazin, bradshaw, critics, film course, reviewers, reviews
5 Comments
THE PAST (2013)
I was asked to stand in for D.D. who usually presents a film at the Lexi for the U3A in Brent. These matinees are screened at 1.30 on the last Wednesday of the month and are open to all. The … Continue reading
Posted in Ageing
Tagged age and cinema going, audience, family, film discussion, film group, film reception, Lexi, the past, u3a
2 Comments
Cultural Gerontology and Films
On the film front the 8th International Conference on Cultural Gerontology was not very exciting for me as opposed to other presentations. SEE: http://ageingageismdiary.wordpress.com The majority of papers on visual representation were about TV programmes none of which were familiar to … Continue reading
ANTONIA’S LINE – Antidote to sexism.
For our film group this month I chose Antonia’s Line (1995). Why did I pick this film from my collection? Three reasons spring to mind. In a new book about ageing: Lynn Segal’s ‘Out of Time, the Pleasures and Perils of … Continue reading
Posted in Ageing, Film Analysis
Tagged A question of silence, Ageing, anger, british comedies, daughter, death, disability, extended family, family, feminism, friendship, Gorris, grandmother, great-granddaughter, grief, old woman, utopia, violence, war
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NEBRASKA (2013) part 1
In the last few months I have been unable to attend the U3A screenings at the Lexi but this week I managed to see Nebraska. I usually do not comment on films after a first viewing and I thought that … Continue reading
Posted in Ageing, Ageism, Conferences and comments
Tagged Ageing, Ageism, grotesque old woman in film
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SOUS LE SABLE (UNDER THE SAND)
A little while ago Under the Sand (2000) was considered for screening at an event on ageing. I had excluded it from my blog and film group list because Charlotte Rampling was 54 years old when Ozon shot this mystery … Continue reading
Posted in Ageing, Ageism, Film Analysis
Tagged Ageing, Ageism, daughter-in-law, death, disappearance., grief, haptic frame, Haptic turn, loss, mother-in-law, Ozon, wrinkles
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THE BECOMING OF AGE
I finally had some leisure time during my holidays away from the health concerns and trivial activities that sapped my energies this winter. I delighted in reading Pamela Gravagne book: THE BECOMING OF AGE : cinematic visions if mind body … Continue reading
Posted in Ageing, Ageism, Conferences and comments, Film Analysis
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FABULOUS FASHIONISTAS
Although my blog is about old women and feature films, I will consider a television documentary broadcast on September 17th 2013 on Channel 4. I think it is a very important programme in the field of representation of old women. … Continue reading
LES TEMPS QUI CHANGENT – Changing Times
I have a soft spot for Téchiné’s Les Temps Qui Changent (2004). It has had very little exposure in the UK and is unavailable on DVD Region 2. A family drama without histrionics, it places Cécile played by Catherine Deneuve … Continue reading
Posted in Ageing, Film Analysis
Tagged Deneuve, Depardieu, French protectorate, gay relationship, intergeneration, modernisation, mother and son, multicultural, obsessive love, siblings, Tangier, Techine, twins
3 Comments
FREE SENIOR MATINEE cont.
I am dismayed. The BFI organises Senior matinees at the NFT. In January at the free session we are offered Break the News (see previous post), at the paying session La Belle et La Bete 1946. Will this choice be … Continue reading
FREE SENIOR MATINEES QUESTIONS
Nothing to do with Women and Film but about a Free Senior Matinee at the NFT. Lots of questions. The film shown was Rene Clair’s Break the News (1938) featuring Maurice Chevalier, Jack Buchanan and June Knight. It is surprising to … Continue reading
Posted in Conferences and comments
Tagged BFI, BFI education and research, NFT, programming, Senior matinees, target audiences
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Old Age and Feature Films 
THE OTHERNESS OF THE OLD WOMAN Take 3
Old woman as ‘other’ and films In my blog of Nov. 2009 I wrote: When I first started to show films featuring women of 60 years and over to my contemporaries, I was 63. Some of the women in the … Continue reading →