ArchivesForever Young

Old age is a topic…as old as the world. Since the very beginning of cinema, old age has been treated in lots of different ways, from burlesque comedy to the most poignant drama. From David Lynch’s Straight Story, to Arsenic and Old Lace through Pixar’s Up, Auntie Danielle, Gaspar Noe’s Vortex, Shōhei Imamura’s Palme d’Or The Ballad of Narayama, or Gilles Grangier’s The Old Guard… There are many variations. But does old age really exist ? In life as in cinema, over the years, everyone asks himself this question. Sociologists and filmmakers seek to find its moment, its passage.

Far from clichés, old age is a very personal turning point. You don’t wake up young or old. Childhood and youth pass. Evolution is not radical. We move forward, without really changing, by moving a few pieces of the puzzle over days, months, years. Have we really remained the same? In the mirror, it’s another story. Then retirement comes. A retirement that would like to become the gateway to old age. It signals the end of worked, paid, active and useful to the world activity. Yet, for years, retirees have another life ahead of them. Leisure, mutual aid, pleasure, rest. Without seeing the end. The representation of this old age in films is varied and often fights clichés, approaching a world that is not really different from young people’s. Because yes, old people laugh, make love, tear each other apart, are intelligent and sometimes disarming (especially in movies!). We will embrace this cinematic world that shows our lives with humor and emotion.

With Christian Carion, Thomas Gilou, Benoît Delépine, Marie-Christine Barrault, Marion Vernoux,  Claude Lelouch, Sophie Hyde.