Category Archives: family
23 WALKS (2020)
How I miss my older-women-in film groups. Both the Brent U3A one and the Ealing Oldies Network group. Both groups were very well attended (no fewer than 8 in bad weather and up to 40 people per session) by older … Continue reading
NEW PATH : DEMENTIA IN FILMS….
In my plan to write about and study films about dementias I realise that the research involved is too complex and beyond my available time and interest. I know nothing about horror films and it seems to me that it … Continue reading
Death of Wife: Tokyo Story.
“Critics have frequently observed that Ozu Yasujiro’s Tokyo monogatari (Tokyo Story, 1953) was inspired by Leo McCarey’s Make Way for Tomorrow (1937). David Bordwell sees Ozu as “recasting” the American film – borrowing from it, adapting it – and briefly … Continue reading
Shoplifters (2018) – Palme d’Or Cannes – Director Kore-eda
I did not grasp all the richness of this film on my first viewing in the cinema. As a rule I make a point of not reading the reviews or synopsis before seeing a film. What struck me in the … Continue reading
THE FAREWELL ( 2019)
The Farewell Of all the films featuring an old woman that I have seen and written about none has coincided with my experiences as much as this film. I saw it in my local cinema on a Saturday at 18h … Continue reading
POETRY (2010) -2-
Recently, a friend recommended Lucy Bolton’s chapter The Intertextual Stardom of Iris: Winslet, Dench, Murdoch, and Alzheimer’s Disease,Feminisms: Diversity, Difference and Multiplicity in Contemporary Film Cultures (2015). This took me years back before I started my blog. Coming back to … Continue reading
POETRY (2010)
POETRY (2010) How did I miss this great film featuring a 66 years old grandmother? Directed by Lee Chang-dong, it won the 2010 Cannes Best Screenplay Award and many more. I discovered it recently while searching for films that have … Continue reading
ETERNITY AND A DAY (1998)
There is a huge difference between my reactions to Eternity and a Day in my early 60s and now at 84. In 1998 Central Station was also released . At the time I focused my attentionon the representation of old … Continue reading
Finding Your Feet (2018)
Two films about old people attracted my attention this week: Finding Your Feet (2018) and Eternity And A Day (1998). I had seen the latter 19-20 years ago but I only remembered the two characters : an old man and a … Continue reading
Eat, Drink, Man, Woman – Chu
Eat Drink Man Woman (referred to as EDMW) is described by the majority of reviewers as a film about a clash between Father and Daughters, between Tradition and Modernity. Few have commented on Chu as an old man. EDMW is … Continue reading
EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN (1994) at EON
Eat Drink Man Woman (1994) at EON I mentioned in this blog that I would not concentrate any more on the representation of old women in films but widen my interest and abandon the time-consuming film analysis approach. After … Continue reading
THE WIFE (2017)
I saw The Wife on the big screen with my partner and a friend (male) the three of us over 80 years old. It was remarkable that the three of us had to say something immediately at the end, even … Continue reading
CINEMAS, FILMS AND AGEING
Cinema, Films and Ageing. I have been running old women film groups for the last twenty years and blogging about the representation of the old woman in feature films for the last ten years. My relationship with cinemas, film, film … Continue reading
HOTEL SALVATION (2016) at EON
18 members present 15 stayed for the discussion The discussion was extremely interesting, nearly unanimous in praising the film. Only two people were very critical. One objected to the way the old man manipulated his son, the other was very … Continue reading
HOTEL SALVATION (2016)
This is not about the representation of an old woman in films but my personal – as an old woman – take on Hotel Salvation. I fail to see why this film has been so praised by influential reviewers. … Continue reading
Mrs. Caldicot’s Cabbage War (2002)
Before I write about the EON (Ealing Over 60 network) film session Mrs. Caldicot’s Cabbage War I would like to quote again the most outrageously sexist/ageist example in journalism that I have encountered in my extensive reading about films. … Continue reading
THE STRAIGHT STORY at ‘EON’ AND EDIE
A full house again at the Ealing Oldies Network (EON). The Straight Story (1999) elicited an interesting exchange of views. It took some time to discover Lynch’s oblique way of exposing deep issues by visual means, discover Alvin’s back story, … Continue reading
AFTER LIFE (1998) Life review
When I started blogging about films and older women in 1999 I was determined to be as thorough in my research and detailed about my analyses in order to be considered more than an amateur reviewer. At the age of … Continue reading
VOLVER (2006) Ealing Oldies Network
Full house again at the EON : 14 women, 4 men for Volver A very dense and complex discussion difficult to convey due to the variety of themes summarised here. Two women had seen the film before. Two immediate … Continue reading
Note of comments ‘Pather Panchali’ – Ealing Oldies Network (EON) 22 Jan 2018
About twenty attended. One, who had seen it before, found the film engaged her in the same way as when she’d first seen it. Comments, as main themes, were: Much more than a story: the forest, nature, land, water/the well, … Continue reading
Pather Panchali in Ealing
18 enthusiastic people attended the fifth film session of the Ealing Oldies Network (EON): Pather Panchali (1955). The post viewing session was very lively and everybody participated and shared feelings and thoughts. (Notes not available). What was remarkable for me … Continue reading
AQUARIUS (2016) partial analysis
In The Greater London Pensioner Association newsletter (October 2017) Judith Olley writes about the Representation of Older People on Film. It is refreshing to read about films from an older person’s viewpoint and I picked up two films that I … 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 →