Most of the gerontologcial movies that I have reviewed in this blog so far were full length, feature films. These were mostly Hollywood/American based, aimed at the popular broad audience. However, in recent years there is a flourishing of short, semi-documentary, non-American movies, which touch upon classic gerotological topics. This time I would like to review a wonderful documentary movie by the Israeli writer and director Sylvain Biegeleisen.
The plot is very simple: Sylvain was told that his mother, a 94 years old bedridden widow, had only a few weeks to live. So, he decided to return to Belgium in order to take care of her in her last days. However, this short "farewell" journey lasted instead of a few weeks - more than 2 years.
The movie is basically the documentations of the conversations, interactions, and human relations between the director and his mother - all happening at her home, usually when she is in bed. However, the beauty of this film lies in the director's mother: a wonderful, humorist, optimist and wise old woman, who shares her enjoyment of life while smoking, singing, and laughing at life.
Naturally, there is much more gerontological depth in this movie, as during the dialogues between the director and his mother, very difficult and hard issues arise: the meaning of life; the fear of death; the complicates son-mother relationships, and much more. However, the bottom line is that this is a wonderful and highly recommended gerontological movie: it celebrates old age while looking at death straight in the eyes.
Director: Sylvian Biegeleisen
2015
Israel
Link to trailer: https://vimeo.com/107697402
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