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Category Archives: Conferences and comments
The Short Hot Flush Film Festival
I deviate again from the focus of Feature Films to post the report of Jane, member of Brent U3A Older Woman in Film Group. The Short Hot Flush Film Festival – Brighton – October 3rd Two women came up … Continue reading
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
Posted in Ageing, Conferences and comments
Tagged Ageing, carer, film reception, grandmother, grief, other, representation old woman, teenager
1 Comment
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
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
2 Comments
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
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
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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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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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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The Old Woman and some British Comedies.
Whisky Galore (1949) was shown on the TV at the approach to Xmas. A very male comedy where Georges’ mother, a controlling bigot with no redeeming features, treats her adult son like a naughty child. The part is played by Jean … Continue reading
Bechdel Test and Symbolic Annihilation
Girls on Film in Partnership with Little White Lies day of panel discussions focusing on the representation of women in film. I attended two of the panel discussions of the Under Wire Festival: the Bechdel Test and Act Your Age. … Continue reading
LUMINATE FESTIVAL AND JANE GRANT’S PRESENTATION
Luminate, Scotland’s creative ageing festival ran for its second year this October. Events took place in almost every region, even the Outer Hebrides, and included exhibitions, films, and live performances (music, poetry, dance and theatre). There were also discussions, debates, … Continue reading
MIRROR MIRROR CONFERENCE
“The photo is never a mirror” Dr. Margaret Morganroth Gullette After I attended the Lumière Blanche Festival I explored with another member of the Film Group the possibilities of reaching and exposing young people to images of old women. We … Continue reading
Posted in Ageing, Conferences and comments
Tagged advanced style, Ageing, Ageism, brand culture, care home, fashionistas, grandmother, Hanna Zeilig, images of old women, intergeneration, looks, Margaret Gullette, mirror mirror, mother, photos, product placement, representation old woman, white hair
4 Comments
LUMIERE BLANCHE 2013 PROGRAMME
My last post about the Festival Lumiere Blanche 2013 is the list of films shown. For me the shorts were a real revelation. I felt sorry not to have given the genre more attention. The ones I saw at this … Continue reading
Posted in Ageing, Conferences and comments
Tagged Ageing, animated feature, films list, shorts about ageing, workshops on ageing
3 Comments
LE FILM PERMET DE LIBERER LA PAROLE DR. J.J. DEPASSIO
Films permit free conversations says Dr. Depassio. Dr. Jean-Jacques Depassio, geriatrician, works at the Hopital de Fourvière – Centre de Gérontology in Lyon. He is the organiser of the Lumière Blanche Intergenerational film Festival. I realised the first time I … Continue reading
Posted in Ageing, Conferences and comments
Tagged A Simple Life, Ageing, Ageism, amour, best exotic marigold hotel, british comedies, care home, carer, carers, death, directors gaze on ageing, family, films and ageing, Gerontology, hospice, intergeneration, J.J Depassio, Lumiere Blanche, Quartet, representation disablement, representation old woman
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LUMIERE BLANCHE INTERGENERATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
I am just back from attending the Lumiere Blanche Festival in Tassin-la-Demi-Lune. This is the intriguing name of a suburb of Lyon, the birth town of the brothers Lumiere and also of Bertrand Tavernier. The festival took place in an … Continue reading
REFLECTIONS ON POINTS OF VIEW
In the last few months I have been asked – as an expert on old women in films – to be a panelist at two festivals, and to present a film at a literature festival. I declined the first two … Continue reading
Posted in Ageing, Conferences and comments
Tagged academic institutions, Ageing, Ageism, Ballad of Narayama, best exotic marigold hotel, british comedies, Fear Eats the Soul, film group, film industry, film panels, film reception, grandmother, group of old women, Notes on a Scandal, Pauline and Paulette, points of view, Records of a Tenement Gentleman, representation, representation old woman, still doing it, The Grapes of Wrath, The Mother, The Whales of August, tokyo story, women over 65
2 Comments
Have times changed in Hollywood?
Today Pamela Scully tweets “Hollywood ‘Still Refuses to Let Actresses Age at all’ and gives this blog address: http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2013/09/19/wrinkle-washed-female-faces-in-film-marketing/ In this blog Doug Barry writes about Susan Sontag and quotes her. “The Double Standard of Aging” was published in The Saturday … Continue reading
Posted in Ageing, Ageism, Conferences and comments
Tagged Ageing, Ageism, Hollywood and age, looks, susan sontag
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CHANGING TIMES
It is remarkable how things have changed in the last 15 years. At the beginning of the new academic year I am overwhelmed and recall the times when I started looking at ageing and the cinema. People were surprised and … Continue reading
CINEMA LE GRAND AGE D’OR
At long last an informed and researched article about ageing and films in the general press albeit in the French le Monde. Jacques Mandelbaum, journalist and film critic whose articles are sometimes published in The Guardian, writes about ageing and … Continue reading
Ageing and Film Guide, Older Women in Film Group
I am taking the plunge and starting work on my ‘Women, Ageing and Films Guide’. I have an extended knowledge of the filmography and have led enough workshops about the subject to have material to share. This is a long-term … Continue reading
Posted in Ageing, Conferences and comments
Tagged Ageing, amour, death, film guide, film reception, friendship, women's group
6 Comments
Anger at Ageist review. Bradshaw and Quartet.
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 … Continue reading
Posted in Ageing, Ageism, Conferences and comments
Tagged Ageism, ageist reviewer, anger, care home, escapism, Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
3 Comments
Me, Ageing and Films
It is the end of the year and I am entering my 79th year. Time to stop and consider. ‘Archbishop of Canterbury criticises contempt and abuse of elderly people. Rowan Williams uses final Lords speech to warn of damaging … Continue reading
THE MOTHER (2002) Old woman’s sexuality or Thatcher’s Britain?
The film-maker daughter of a friend of mine challenged me the other day. From agreement over Last Tango in Halifax that we both found a well written TV drama, we slid into disagreement and misunderstanding about The Mother (2002). She liked The … Continue reading
Old Age and Feature Films 
STILL WALKING (2008)
Still Walking (2008) As with some family reunions, my second viewing of Still Walking was quite painful. I saw it at home with a cousin with whom I had shared family reunions in my youth. Her general comment was: there … Continue reading →