So, finally I get to review a gerontological movie from Latin America - this time from Chile. While usually my policy is not to include documentary movies in this blog, and while this movie is supposedly a documentary - it is not really so: it is more like an unusual film noir disguised as a nursing home documentary.
Directed by Maite Alberdi the films opens in a comedy-like (a-la-Pink-Panther) scene, where an 83 years old man (Sergio Chamy) is hired by a private detective to become a "spy" in a nursing home, in order to investigate suspicions of elder abuse. Sergio is "educated" to become a "spy", and is loaded with eyeglasses that can record as well a smart phone to connect with the private detective.
Sergio arrives for a 3 month stay at the nursing home, and starts with his "spying" mission. He gets to know the residents (mostly old women), including the older woman which he is supposed to follow and verify the elder abuse suspicions. From this point, what seemed to be a comedy, becomes a drama-documentary, portraying the daily living of older women in institutional settings. In order not to spoil, I will only say that from a "spying" mission, Sergio's stay in the nursing home becomes something very different.
As a gerontological movie - this is indeed an excellent film to better understand the reality of daily living in an institutional care setting for older persons. The beauty and strength of this film is that it does not try to glorify nor to blacken the complicated human reality in such places. It provides quite a humane and realistic perspective, both of the older residents as well as the staff.
As a gerontological movie, this can be an excellent movie to start any basic course or debate regarding nursing home or institutions for older persons. However, for none-gerontologists, for more experienced gerontologist who have visited nursing homes in their lives, or for those looking for a good, thought provoking, and enjoyable gerontological movie - I think that this movie is a bit disappointing: eventually, in my view, it did not decide what it wanted to be: a spy-comedy? or a true and real in-depth documentary.....
2020
Chile
Director: Maite Alberdi
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