Tag Archives: family

FEMINISM, AGEING, AND FILMS

Posted on August 31, 2016 by rinaross

It is bizarre at the age of 81 to have a feeling of deja vu about the experience of seeing a film. And this is the only way I can explain my profound distaste of Chronic. I have tried to … Continue reading →

Posted in Ageing, care | Tagged Ageing, assisted suicide], carer, caring, death, end of life care, family, feminism, grief, incontinence, old woman, voyeuristic style | Leave a comment

Chronic: palliative care or a man’s portrait?

Posted on July 29, 2016 by rinaross

Holidays. Time to reflect on some questions I asked myself after a few viewings. In my post about Wrinkles I wrote: “But one cannot help being intrigued by the predominantly male atmosphere of the film when it is common knowledge that … Continue reading →

Posted in Ageing, animation, critics | Tagged Ageing, Ageism, amour, assisted suicide], carer, caring, death, end of life care, family, film reception, intergeneration, intimate care, Naked bodies, palliative care, sexual abuse by carer | 3 Comments

TATIE DANIELLE (1990)

Posted on May 12, 2016 by rinaross

This is the third group of older women who viewed and discussed the film apart from the 101 U3A members (see previous post in 2005 and resources for the BFI Guide to Older Women in Film). I was surprised again … Continue reading →

Posted in Ageing, Ageism, critics, FILM RECEPTION | Tagged abuse of older people, Ageing, Ageism, black comedy, carer, family, film reception, grandmother, grotesque old woman in film, old people incontinence, representation old woman | Leave a comment

Ballad of Narayama (1958)

Posted on February 8, 2016 by rinaross

I had written about this film exactly three years ago and seeing it again proved to be as fascinating. I had shown it to the film group of the time but did not record responses. The membership of the film group … Continue reading →

Posted in Ageing | Tagged Ageing, assisted suicide], daughter-in-law, death, family, film reception, grandmother, grief, intergeneration, japanese film, looks, mother, mother and son, narayama, old woman, representation old woman, sons and mothers | Leave a comment

Camera Obscura (2008) or what happens next?

Posted on January 31, 2016 by rinaross

Camera Obscura (2008) is an Argentinian film directed by Maria Victoria Menis. It is not about an old woman but I thought that this unknown film is well worth watching and studying for its multimedia form, its outdoor lyrical shots, … Continue reading →

Posted in Ageing, FILM RECEPTION, motherhood | Tagged ambiguous endings, beauty, daughter, documentary, family, family photos, film reception, intergeneration, jewish film, jews and Argentinian gauchos, mirror scene, mother, mother/daughter, motherhood, multi media film, open endings, photos, surrealism, the gaze, ugliness, war | Leave a comment

LA VIEILLE FEMME INDIGNE (1965)

Posted on December 23, 2015 by rinaross

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 | Leave a comment

London Film Festival 2015

Posted on October 17, 2015 by rinaross

I saw two films featuring an old woman at the Festival this year: Grandma (2015 ) ticked all the boxes : Lily Tomlin, lesbian relationship, angry grandmother, women’s liberation, the 70s, odd characters, good granddaughter/grandmother relationship , difficult one with daughter, teenager … Continue reading →

Posted in Ageing, festivals, FILM RECEPTION | Tagged abortion, addiction, Ageing, anger, Betty Friedan, daughter, de Beauvoir, family, feminism, grandmother, intergeneration, Lily Tomlin, london film festival 2015, mother, mother/daughter, oldwoman/teenager, pregnancy, Thanksgving | Leave a comment

KEEPING MUM (2005) or “it is the least a mother can do”

Posted on March 25, 2015 by rinaross

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 | Leave a comment

BABOUSSIA (2003) self sacrificing great grandmother

Posted on January 27, 2015 by rinaross

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 | 1 Comment

SINCE OTAR LEFT… (2003) or Women’s Lives.

Posted on November 17, 2014 by rinaross

“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 →

Posted in Ageing, Film Analysis | Tagged daughter, documentary, family, family secrets, film reception, grandmother, grief, intergeneration, lies, mother, mother and son, mother/daughter, old woman, old women coping with loss, representation old woman, secrets, separation | 1 Comment

MAMADRAMA (2001) The Jewish Mother Stereotype

Posted on October 15, 2014 by rinaross

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 | 1 Comment

UNHOOK THE STARS (1996)

Posted on August 3, 2014 by rinaross

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 →

Posted in Ageing | Tagged Ageing, child minder, daughter, empty house, family, family conflicts, father as role model, friendship, gentle giant, grandmother, intergeneration, mother and son, mother/daughter, separation | Leave a comment

MOOLAADE (2004)

Posted on May 20, 2014 by rinaross

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 | Leave a comment

THE PAST (2013)

Posted on May 3, 2014 by rinaross

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

ANTONIA’S LINE – Antidote to sexism.

Posted on April 7, 2014 by rinaross

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 | 1 Comment

LE FILM PERMET DE LIBERER LA PAROLE DR. J.J. DEPASSIO

Posted on October 24, 2013 by rinaross

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 | Leave a comment

Baghban (The Gardener – 2003)

Posted on August 30, 2013 by rinaross

66 years later than Make Way For Tomorrow and 50 years later than TS, Baghban (2003) treats the same subject of the generation gap in a changing world. But in contrast to both MWT and TS Poojah the old woman … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Analysis | Tagged adopted son, Ageing, Baghban, bollywood, caring, daughter-in-law, escapism, family, grandmother, indian film, intergeneration, make way for tomorrow, mother, oldwoman/teenager, separation, sexism, sons and mothers, teenager, tokyo story | 2 Comments

THE OLD WOMAN IN ‘MAKE WAY FOR TOMORROW’ AND ‘TOKYO STORY’

Posted on August 24, 2013 by rinaross

The film group is on holiday so I can come back to my three years old project. This is to consider the old woman in two classic films with the same story. For there is no magic that will draw … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Analysis | Tagged Ageing, daughter, daughter-in-law, death, family, grandmother, intergeneration, make way for tomorrow, mother, mother and son, mother/daughter, old woman, oldwoman/teenager, representation old woman, separation, tokyo story | Leave a comment

MAKE WAY FOR TOMORROW (1937)

Posted on June 27, 2013 by rinaross

La cohabitation n’a jamais fait de bien à personne. (my mother) Life flies past us so swiftly that few of us pause to consider those who have lost the tempo of today. Their laughter and their tears we do not even … Continue reading →

Posted in Ageing, Film Analysis | Tagged Ageing, care home, daughter, daughter-in-law, family, grandmother, grotesque old woman in film, intergeneration, mother/daughter, old woman, oldwoman/teenager, representation old woman, separation, sons and mothers, supernatural | 2 Comments

AMOUR – QUESTIONS

Posted on April 1, 2013 by rinaross

ALSO SEE UNDER FILM GROUP PAGE THE RESPONSES OF THE FILM GROUP Two people have said to me: your blog is about the representation of old women and yet you do not address this in the one about Amour. This is true. … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Analysis | Tagged Ageing, Ageism, carer, caring, co- housing, daughter, death, family, film reception, Haneke, looks, old woman, oscars, representation old woman | Leave a comment

The Mother (2003) and staging age

Posted on January 13, 2013 by rinaross

I am back from holidays. I like doing my serious reading when there are no interruptions of trivial chores, visits to the doctor, hospital, podiatrist, optician and hearing specialist or social and family activities. After my post on The Mother, … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Analysis | Tagged Ageing, Ageism, daughter, family, framing, grandmother, Kaplan, Kureishi. Michell, mother/daughter, Older Feminist Network, staging age, unconscious framing | 3 Comments

FACT AND FICTION – BEVERLY AND KIMBERLY – THE IMPOSTER AND THE CHAMELEON

Posted on September 28, 2012 by rinaross

I was curious to see how the mother is portrayed in The Chameleon (2010) based on Christopher d’Antonio Bourdin’s authorized biography. The film’s genre, is classified in IMDB as biography, drama, thriller. The title sequences state ‘Based on a True … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Analysis | Tagged addiction, Ageism, documentary, family, family secrets, inner life of old women, old woman, representation old woman, the Chameleon, the imposter | Leave a comment

The Imposter and the Mother between Grief and Guilt

Posted on September 23, 2012 by rinaross

The Imposter elicits amazement at the story and praise at the way the director tells the story. At the heart of this dramatised documentary is the incredible fact that a mother and sister are fooled into accepting a serial imposter … Continue reading →

Posted in Ageing | Tagged Bourdin, daughter, documentary, family, grandmother, grief, guilt, imposter, interviews, mother and son, old woman, representation old woman, siblings, teenager | Leave a comment

Pather Panchali : Witch or Grandmother

Posted on March 1, 2012 by rinaross

Because of a mix up in dates by the cinema, the U3A audience at the Lexi was small but very appreciative. I had forgotten how woman-centered was Pather Panchali and remembered only the visual and music emotional impact it made … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Analysis | Tagged aunt/niece relationship, death, family, grandmother, intergeneration, mother, mother/daughter, old aunt, old woman, representation old woman | 1 Comment

The Salt of Life or Gianni and Women (2011)

Posted on August 31, 2011 by rinaross

Gianni e le donne. Literally Gianni and (the) Women. Gianni is on our screens again. Still drinking, but less than he did in Mid August Lunch, still a good cook, still at the beck and call of his mother. But … Continue reading →

Posted in Film Analysis | Tagged Ageism, carer, daughter, family, gaze, grandfather, mother, old woman, positive ageing, redundancy, role reversal, still doing it, walking the dog | Leave a comment

The Tree of Life

Posted on August 7, 2011 by rinaross

It is not fair to comment on a complex film generally without studying it in detail but I feel compelled to write about Malick’s The Tree of Life. The film evoked in me deep emotions but also deep alienation. One … Continue reading →

Tagged death, family, grief, loss, mother, sons and mothers | Leave a comment