“Make Way for Tomorrow” is a bit ore realistic in addition to being a better film.
Although some might dismiss the aging sequence that tracked the characters of Alan Ball’s “Six Feet Under” to their respective end points in the final moments of the series, I was really moved by it.
THE WILD BUNCH (1969). I was a teenager when I first saw it and the men in it were my father’s age and reminded me a great deal of my father. Now I’m older than almost everybody in that film. (Robert Ryan was older when he made it than I am now, but not by much.) Luckily, I’ve never smoked and haven’t drunk as much as they (or my father) have. I’ve picked a steadier, more secure career than they did. Still, when I think about movies’ depiction of aging, this movie always comes to mind. I can’t stand things like THE BIG CHILL, which someone in my demographic is SUPPOSED to relate to.
I know this is beside the point for the thread, but the end of 2001 doesn’t make me feel comfortable about nothin’.
definitely Rene Allio’s The Shameless Old Lady
Ikiru
Ben, I don’t think what you’ve said is besides the point at all. If you don’t find “2001” with its closing scene especially comforting, that’s fine. I can see how it would be somewhat unsettling, but at the same time there is definitely a feeling of peace and magic about the sequence.
I liked “The Big Chill” when I saw it as a teenager, but now that I’m in my thirties, I’m nothing like those characters, except I do fancy Motown music, but that’s about it.
That’s what THE BIG CHILL soundtrack is for.
Ben, you’re forgetting I hadn’t really been introduced to that sort of music in a big way. “Tour of Duty” was a good starting point, then I saw “The Big Chill” a few years later. I’d be interested to see what I think of the film nowadays, although I can say I don’t really resemble them that greatly. Also, I’m not nailing Glenn Close.
Hey, at least I never bothered with that yuppie bullshit “thirtysomething”.
MARK IS SUSPENDED IN GAFFA
There’s an unwritten rule in Hollywood (and, I fear, cinema generally) that people aren’t allowed to grow old—and if they do, well, they must do everything inhumanly possible to conceal the natural signs of advancing age. Now, it’s understandable to fear death—and quite frankly, I’m bamboozled by the whole ceaseless fetishisation of death and destruction as realised by nihilistic gothic cultures of today’s teenagers. But let’s face it—old age is not the end of life, and once we are old, we must live as elderly individuals. Old age can be reassuring, peaceful, and perhaps enlightening. So surely there must be films out there that do depict growing old not as something to be feared or despised, but something fascinating and as part of the natural life cycle. After all, if we wish to live, we must eventually grow old.
I’m certain many of you have witnessed Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey”, in particular the astonishing final scene, the “ageing” sequence featuring Keir Dullea looking at himself in various stages of his future life. There is something so serene about this sequence, so beautiful, yet so mystifying and surreal. Ageing, as Stanley Kubrick shows it here, is not something to be dreaded, it is simply a fact of life, a part of the human cycle—and one that ultimately leads to a “rebirth” of sorts.
So even though none of us should be in any hurry to grow old, the fact is old age shall, hopefully, come to all of us—even if our physical form somewhat defies our actual age. Dying young is such a tragedy, and I for one would be fascinated to be able to see myself as an elderly man, much in the way Keir Dullea sees (and in fact becomes) himself well into his twilight years. With this in mind, are there any other films or specific film scenes that managed to portray old age and the process of ageing with some dignity and beauty?