Georgetown

It has been a while since my last geromovie review.... being a Dean takes its toll. So, luckily, there is Netflix to watch. By coincidence, I have stumbled, and watched the movie Georgetown. I must admit that I admire Christoph Waltz, who does not only play the main character of the movie but is also the director.

The movie is based on a true event, the 2011 murder of 91-year-old socialite Viola Herms Drath (who is played by Vanessa Redgrave) by her much-younger second husband in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington D.C.

I know that the critics and the wide audience did not like the movie. However, I believe it is an important gerontological movie. Anyone who is interested in the field of ageing is well aware of the phenomena of elder abuse. More specifically, the tragic cases of lonely older persons who are targeted, and become victims to fraud, abuse by shameless predators - are becoming more evident. There is always the question why older people of accomplishment and privilege would fall to such schemes. As we know in the field of elder abuse - money and position are certainly no guarantee against being a victim of elder abuse.

So for me - the importance and significance of this movie - as a gerontological movie, is in its potential to become an educational instrument: A way to better understand and realize the social policy challenges which exist while trying to address abuse of older persons - in general, and of wealthy lonely older persons - in specific. Watching the movie allows you better realize the gradual, delicate, and sophisticated manner by which independent and assertive older adults become totally dependent, vulnerable, and powerless.

USA

2019

Director: Christoph Waltz

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ch3BdXOgyc