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olden years
MARK MY WORDS - WAR IS COMING
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You wait ages for a decent film about getting old and then two come along at once. Paul Dale ponders cinema's curious relationship with the elderly
ollywood producer and one time (‘linton
supporter Mike Medavoy understands. Old
age and Hollywood is the double you just don't mix. In between closing deals and sitting on the board of California's Anti Terrorism Information Center. Medavoy once penned the undeniable truth that: ‘This is a business that eats its elderly instead of its young.‘ Far from being the last taboo. ageism on and off screen in the movie business is disgracefully rife.
OK. the blockbuster may still be the vanguard of a certain type of established male star (Willis. Stallone. Cruise etc) but with each new resurrection their supporting cast gets younger lest prepubescent audiences realise that they are watching an action adventure film featuring a man who really should be in his shed doling out Werther's Originals. Equally. by way of some kind of arthritic karma. it seems that for every good film about old age and the ageing process there is a mirror feature marked out by its ineptitude. For every Wild Sll'ult'ln’l'l'lfls‘ or Harold and Maude there‘s a Driving Miss Daisy; for every The Straight Story there's an Oil Golden Pond; for every Cocoon there‘s Used People and for every Iris or Last Orders there's a Fried Green Tomatoes or Grumpy Old Men or The Bucket List or some such nonsense. If you want to talk about stereotyping and reductionism this is certainly a growth area.
Two feature films released this fortnight attempt. in their own small way. to buck this trend. Intermission writer/director John Crowley's heartfelt and moving rumination on love. loss and cross generational
44 THE LIST 30 Apr-14 May 2009
friendship. Is Anybody 'l'liei‘e. ipicluredi. features Michael ('aine as an old duffer magician \yith a few tricks up his sleeye for morbid youth Hill .\li|ner. \vhile Norwegian filmmaker Bent llamei”s loyely (Tl/orien is a geriatric road moyie in which a lifetime‘s order is thrown to the four \yinds. Both these films deserve an audience and both trade in late epiphanies and complex characterisations. which are all too rare in modern films featuring the aged,
Filmmakers' reluctance to deal \yith this issue is perplexing at best. and it's a debate recently muddied by David l-‘incher‘s miserable and interminable foible of an age theme epic 'l'lie ('iii'ioiiy (the ill lfeii/uiniii Button. Has the botox principle really finally fro/en our desire to produce \yol'ks of such permanence as Eastwood‘s ('ii/oijeii‘eii or ()/tt‘s 'Iolty'o .S'Ioijv'.’ It's not like these films lack an audience. Let's face it. in the west at least. it‘s an expanding demographic advances in healthcare and declining birth rates have taken care of that. But mark my \yords war is coming. When those on pensions outnumber those being smothered by e\orbitant ta\es there “ill be a war betyyeen the young and the old. '/.immer frame will go against iPhone. it \in| divide the weak from the strong. the man from the boy. Roland limmerich will make a film about it and moyie makers can finally decide \y hose side they are really on.
Is Anybody There? is on selected release from Fri 1 May. See review, page 46 and profile in listings. O’Horten, GFT, Glasgow from Fri 8. Filmhouse, Edinburgh from Fri 29 May.
THE BEST FILM & DVD RELEASES
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* Star Trek TV favourite re- imagined With Wit and charm. See feature page ’9? and
rey/iew. page‘ . {5. General release tron: Fri 8 Mav.
* O’Horten Retirement blues. Norwegian style. See feature. left and reVIew. page ‘16. GET Glasgow from Fri 8 May.
* Coraline lhe Nightmare Before Christmas director Henry Selick's adaptation of Neil Gaiinan's book is a delight. See reVIew. page 46. General release from Fri 8 May
* Sounds Like Teen Splrlt Illuminating and amusmg documentary about Junior EuroVision. See reVIew and profile. page 45). Selected release from Fri 8 May.
* Encounters at the End of the World Werner Herzog‘s trip to Antarctica. GFT. Glasgow 8 Fi/iiihouse. Edinburgh until Thu 7 May.
* Tony Manero Disco dancing Chilean political fable. GFI'. Glasgow from Fri 7 May. * The Class Scholastic tale enioys slight return. Fi‘lmhouse. Edinburgh from Fri 8~Mon 18 May.
* Let the Right One In Excellent long in the tooth tale. Out now, selected release.
* James Mason Six film season of some of the great actor‘s best. Fi/mhouse. Edinburgh from Sun 3 May.
* Dead By Dawn Beloved annual horror chow down unfolds. Filmhouse, Edinburgh from Thu 30 Apr-Sun 3 May.
* Nighthawks/Strip Jack Naked Ron Peck's low budget 1978 indie Brit gem gets a long overdue DVD and Blu-ray release. See review. page 57. Out now (BFI).
* The World and It’s Double: The Life and Work of Otto Preminger Chris Fujiwara's excellent critical biography of a Hollywood great. See Film Books Round-Up. page 57. Out Thu 27 May (Faber).