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Category Archives: Film Analysis
LOVE AND DEMENTIA
On 31 Jan 2021, at 17:49, Rina Rosselson <rinaross@mac.com> wrote: Why is it that the film Amour is often quoted in reviews of Still Mine? And do all stories with old couples fall into the same genre? Isn’t Still Mine also a film about dementia? … Continue reading
Posted in Ageing, ageing couple, alzheimer, care, care homes, carers, dementia, documentary, Film Analysis
Tagged dementia, family, hospitalisation, love, memory loss, old couple
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OLD AGE AND CARE : Amour, Chronic, A Woman’s Tale
Autoethnography Isolated from family and friends under tier 4, unable to research with any enthusiasm I have decided to end the writing of 2020.But first I must come back to my blog of December 19th, where I touched on an … 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
Posted in Ageing, ageing couple, alzheimer, carers, family, Film Analysis
Tagged dementia
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AWAY FROM HER (2008) and Still Alice (2014)
Of all couple separations the separation due to dementia can be the most painful. Major illnesses in a partner, a child are also difficult to live through. It is the erasing of the partner and his/her annihilation that is unbearably … Continue reading
Posted in Ageing, ageing couple, alzeihmer, alzheimer, care, care homes, Film Analysis, film noir, grief, horror films, old couple separation, three generations of women
Tagged care home, dementia
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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
Posted in Ageing, ageing couple, classic, classic film, critics, death, family, Film Analysis, FILM RECEPTION, grief, intergenerational relationships, old couple separation
Tagged Ozu
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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
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
Posted in Ageing, audience responses, classic, classic film, death, family, Film Analysis, FILM RECEPTION, grief, love, outsiders
Tagged Angelopoulos, bus, childhood, couple, death, dementia, exile, family home, flashbacks, introspections, last days, love, memories, mother, poems, poet, refugee children, refugees, sea and drowning, selling of children, the sea, time frame in films
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Ali Fear Eats the Soul (1974)
Fear eats the soul at EON (1974) Attendance at the film session was 25 this month. Unfortunately my voice recorder failed me and I am unable to report objectively on the very astute, lively, animated contributions. All the aspects of … Continue reading
Posted in Ageing, ageing couple, Ageism, audience responses, classic, Film Analysis
Tagged fassbinder, foreign worker, looks, love, objectivisation, prejudice
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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
Posted in Ageing, Ageism, Ang Lee, care, family, Film Analysis, food, grief, intergenerational relationships, love, murder, women's friendships
Tagged And Lee
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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
Posted in Ageing, ageing couple, audience responses, critics, family, Film Analysis, FILM RECEPTION, melodrama
Tagged comedy, death, family, film interpretation, Glenn Close, housewife, humour, husband/wife relationship, kermode, melodrama, music, nobel prize, Peter Bradshaw, reviews, strong woman, Stuart Hall, writers
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SUMMER REFLECTIONS on films featuring old women.
Too hot to think clearly. Too hot to sit for a long time looking at the screen. Too hot to remember the times spent talking about ageing and films. The laughs and heated discussions. My friends long departed. Is … Continue reading
Posted in Ageing, Ageism, audience responses, critics, death, Film Analysis, FILM RECEPTION
Tagged Ageism, All About Eve, media, Old women in films, Pather Panchali, reviews, Volver
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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
Posted in Ageing, Ageism, death, family, Film Analysis, film making, grief, guilt, love
Tagged death, family, history, interviews, Kore-eda, life, life review, love, memories, photos, reviews, women
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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
Posted in Ageing, audience responses, family, Film Analysis, FILM RECEPTION, motherhood, three generations of women
Tagged actors, Ageing, anger, beach, birthday, breast cancer, building, cancer, changing times, chemotherapy, corruption, daughter, family, friendship, group of old women, history, intergenerational relationship, laughing yoga, Long hair, maid, mastectomy, media, mother and son, mother/daughter, nephew, nepotism, orgy, photos, physical exercise, redevolpment, representation old woman, still doing it, termites invasion, tower blocks, vinyl records
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MOTHER AND SON Gentleman’s Agreement (1947)
Gentleman’s Agreement (1947) I was very surprised when I read Bradshaw’s article a few months ago. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/feb/15/best-picture-oscar-winners-gentlemans-agreement-1947 This film about anti-semitism is not considered as one of Kazan’s best work and Bradshaw’s choice has been criticised. This is not about … Continue reading
Posted in Ageing, Ageism, critics, documentary, Film Analysis, motherhood
Tagged actors, antisemitism, communication, family, film reviews, grandmother/grandson, HUAC, humour, interviews, lifestyle, media, mother/son relationship, reviews, tv, women
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SINCE OTAR LEFT (2003)
I decided at the end of the U3A year to retire from facilitating the Old Women in Films Group. I found that my energy diminished in sympathy with the attendance. In the meantime Ealing Oldies Network (EON see June’s … Continue reading
Grief and Guilt -The Straight Story and Manchester by the Sea
Again a brief post that does not deal with the representation of old women in feature films but since I wrote about The Straight Story (1999) 5 years ago I will consider Manchester by the Sea (2016). I find I have … Continue reading
Posted in Ageing, Film Analysis, grief, guilt
Tagged accidental death, brothers, death of children, family, grandfather, grief, guilt, house on fire, image, men's film, nature, nephew, old age, stroke, teenagers, uncle
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Caramel (2007)
The film group film this month was Caramel. I had presented it in 2011 at the Lexi cinema to a general audience at the U3A matinée. They loved the film. On release in 2007 the critics and reviewers were in … Continue reading
Posted in Ageing, chick flick, Film Analysis, FILM RECEPTION
Tagged Ageing, arabic, beauty salon, Beirut, Christian, communication, dementia, family, friendship, hair, humour, lebanon, lesbian, lifestyle, looks, lover, Moslem, periods, sisterhood, virginity, waxing, wedding, women
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THE RARE AND RIDICULE. Ageism in Hollywood popular films.
The online Guardian of 14 Sept, headlined “Older characters underrepresentated and ridiculed in Hollywood”. Under a close-up of Helen Mirren’s face and neck unretouched showing her lines and wrinkles the article proceeds to report: …research conducted by the Media, … Continue reading
Posted in Ageing, Ageism, critics, Film Analysis, FILM RECEPTION
Tagged 100 top grossing films 2015, Ageing, Ageism, best exotic marigold hotel, ethnic and sexual orientation of senior characters, film reception, gender, Hollywood, media, old people representation, popular films, senior characters
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CHRONIC (2015) : ambiguities and control.
I must come back to Chronic. A friend mentioned to me another film directed by Franco: After Lucia. I viewed it immediately and the experience urged me to revisit Chronic and analyse it. I found that the two films … Continue reading
Posted in Film Analysis, FILM RECEPTION
Tagged ambiguities, assisted death, assisted suicide], carer, caring, daughter, death, disability, film genre, film reception, grief, incontinence, long takes, palliative care, point of view, sexual harassment, story and plot, subjective point of view, vomiting
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WRINKLES (2012)
I quote here a few lines of my 2013 post that dealt with the wonderful Intergenerational Film Festival Lumiere Blanche organised by the geriatrician Dr. Jean Jacques Depassio. The Festival is no more, but the DVD Wrinkles has been released in the USA and … Continue reading
LA VIEILLE FEMME INDIGNE (1965)
Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are. Bertolt Brecht. When I decided to look at the representation of the old woman in films for my MA in 1997 I thought I would … Continue reading
Posted in Ageing, Film Analysis
Tagged age and society, Ageing, Ageism, Allio, Bertolt Brecht, change, death, family, friendship, grandmother, grief, housewife, intergeneration, mother and son, motherhood, old woman, realism, representation old woman, sons and mothers, widow, wrinkles
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Went The Day Well ? (1942)
For the film group this month I chose Went The Day Well? I had seen the film, probably at the NFT, a long time ago. At the time I had just started to research the subject. The film impressed me because … Continue reading
THE WINTER GUEST (film reception)
Ever since I compared film critics’ and a group of older women’s views of Le Chat* I have been interested in the way people react to films. Why are some elements of the film not perceived, or registered and what is … Continue reading
THE WINTER GUEST: PHYLLIDA LAW AND EMMA THOMPSON. On women friendships
In my previous post I noted that it might be rewarding to examine Mother Elspeth (Phyllida Law) and Daughter Frances’ (Emma Thompson) story in The Winter Guest. The task of tracing their narrative in this crazily edited puzzle was very … Continue reading
Posted in Ageing, Film Analysis
Tagged Ageing, anger, caring, daughter, death, editing, Emma Thompson, film reception, friendship, grief, jump cuts, mother, mother/daughter, Phyllida Law, script and cinematography, women friendships
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THE WINTER GUEST (1997) – FUNERALS.
At the age of 80 I find I am attending funerals quite often and at the last one it occurred to me how like a performance the rituals are.(see http://www.ageingageismdiary.wordpress.com). Funerals in films are very common. In thrillers, the detectives … Continue reading
Posted in Ageing, Film Analysis
Tagged Ageing, burial, cinematography, close ups, complex narrative structure, consciousness of mortality], cremation, death, friendship, frozen sea, funeral as performance, funerals, grief, jump cuts, mother, mourning, pan, perception in films, winter location
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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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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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Old Age and Feature Films 
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 →