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The interface of old age and cinema provides a fascinating yet uncharted
territory in the humanities and social sciences. Two central perspectives
are explored: movies on old age by old filmmakers; and movies on
old age by younger artists. The first perspective focuses on the
cinematic representation of aging from within, whereas the second
examines the ways aging is viewed from the outside. The distinction
is based on the schism between the phenomenology of aging and its
social representation: The one hinges on intrinsic qualities of
“old age style” or “late style”; the second
addresses attitudes towards old age in general as well as towards
aging artists and the reception (or rejection) of their late films.
… The
author combines these general perspectives as it shifts between
text and context, beginning with aging from the outside in order
to introduce the semantics and pragmatics of the context (reception
and filmmaking stylistic change, midlife images of old age), and
continuing into the world of aging as cinematically represented
from within, by old filmmakers, an often idiosyncratic, metaphysical
and sometimes unapproachable world.
… By
providing a roadmap that charts previous scholarly paths of inquiry,
this book offers a panoramic view of the direction of this new field
of cinematic gerontology, and is essential reading for students
and scholars of cinema, humanistic gerontology, psychology of art,
and the sociology of old age and popular culture.
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Acknowledgments
Introduction 1
Wild Strawberries: Life Review as a Fiction of Middle
Age
2 Tragically Incomplete: creativity as a
Lasting Resource in Providence
3 She’s Been Away: The Female Life-Review
as a Relational Project
4 An End in Sight: Old Age as Present Continuous
in A Woman’s Tale
5 A Lie for a Lie: Secrets in the Family
and the Resilience of Old Age Since Otar Left
6 Old Age and Inter-Generational family conflict
in Bergman’s Fanny and Alexander and Saraband
7 Poetry of Unadulterated Imagination: The
Late Style of Akira Kurosawa
8 Claude Sautet’s Winter of Discontent
9 Dying is Easy, Comedy is Hard: Depictions
of Old age in Waking Ned Devine and Autumn Spring Conclusion
References
Index
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“Cohen-Shalev’s
Vision of Aging will excite all those interested in age
studies, the social and psychological sciences, and film studies.
While accessible to the general reader, the book delves into late
style theory most persuasively and will make anyone wish to revisit
movies by major film-makers, whose experience of aging transformed
and inspired a new creativity.” Professor Anne M. Wyatt-Brown,
University of Florida, co-editor of the Journal of Aging, Humanities,
and the Arts; and co-editor with Janice Rossen of Aging
and Gender in Literature: Studies in Creativity
“I want to see those movies again! And I want to think again
about the ways in which Visions of Aging on the big and
the little screen are variously enriching, distorting, and illuminating
the latter days of our lives. Thank you, Amir Cohen-Shalev! You
have contributed a fresh and invigorating perspective.” Robert
Kastenbaum, editor of the Macmillan Encyclopedia of Death and
Dying, and author of On Our Way: The Final Passage Through
Life and Death
“In a carefully selected series of powerful depictions, Cohen-Shalev
enlists cinematic milestones in the annals of the film industry
to get to grips with the discontents and anxieties aroused by the
inevitable, yet invisible, presence of the reality of penultimate
death. This insight study of the cinematic imagery of old age is
a much needed contribution to any critical reading of contemporary
culture: It reframes the mid-life triangular intercourse between
film makers, critics and audiences to reveal a hitherto unseen magnificent
palette of the unharmonious yet exciting view in winter.”
Professor Haim Hazan, Tel Aviv University, author of The Limbo
People: A Study of the Constitution of the Time Universe among the
Aged |
Publication Details
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Hardback ISBN: |
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978-1-84519-280-8 |
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Paperback ISBN: |
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978-1-84519-523-6 |
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Page Extent / Format: |
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192 pp. / 229 x 152 mm |
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Release Date: |
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September 2008; paperback,
January 2012 |
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Illustrated: |
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No |
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Hardback Price: |
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£45.00 / $67.50 |
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Paperback Price: |
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£22.50 / $ 34.95 |
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| This book can be ordered online or by telephone. |
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For the UK and Rest of the World:
Gazelle Book Services
tel. 44 (0)1524-68765 |
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For the United States:
International Specialized Book Services
tel. (1) 503 287-3093 or (800) 944-6190 |
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For Canada:
University of Toronto Distribution
tel. (1) 800-565-9523 |
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