Throughout the years, many films have tackled the theme of growing old. They have changed our perspective on aging and moving with time. With new technologies and modern behaviours, old people of the 21st century seem completely different to old people in the 1950s – attitudes change, and fun seems to be at the heart of aging, whereas it was once depicted as a curse or a synonym of tranquility and sometimes lethargy. Think about Sorrentino's Youth, Haneke's Amour, Reiner's The Bucket List – what do they tell us about aging? How do attitudes change?
I think it would be great to include Benjamin Button in this analysis – kathleensumpton9 years ago
I think it would be valuable to set up a control group, i.e., a film from the 1950s to compare with your experimental group, a film from 2015. – InAugust9 years ago
The new British film 45 Years shows a fantastic depiction of the elderly in their more vulnerable years. Not only are the characters shown to be physically unstable, gone is the fleeting unpredictability of youth and the possibility of adventure, leaving plenty of room for regrets and the realisation that certain possibilities are now off the table. – thehustler1959 years ago
It might also be interesting to compare films that target older viewers as opposed to films that target young viewers and just happen to have an older character. It seems likely that the subject will be handled differently depending on the intended audience. – KASquires9 years ago