What makes a gerontological movie a good movie? Is it simply that the stars are older actors? Is it that the story engages elder issues? Or is it something else?
"The Duke" is a good example in my opinion of a good gerontological movie, as it has all the necessary ingredients:
The Duke is a 2020 British comedy-drama film directed by Roger Michell, with a screenplay by Richard Bean and Clive Coleman. The film stars Jim Broadbent, Helen Mirren, Fionn Whitehead, Anna Maxwell Martin and Matthew Goode. It was Michell's penultimate film before his death on 22 September 2021.
The movie takes place in England in the 1960s, and it is based on a true story. The plot is about an older man (played beautifully by Jim Broadbent), a hard-working self-educated working class man, who decides to take upon himself to lead a social-justice struggle to free pensioners and war veterans from the duty to pay a license-fee to watch the BBC on television. This simple story receives a twist, as it connects - without me ruining the surprises of the movie - with the theft Goya's famous portrait of the Duke of Wellington and its frame from the National Gallery in London.
So why is it a true gerontological movie? Not only because the hero in an older person; Not only because it triggers many critical issues around aging (e.g. social security in old age; poverty and education in later life; and more). But most importantly - because it is an anti-ageist movie: it portrays older persons not as a passive and weakened social group; but rather as strong activist, who can bring upon social change.
A great geromovie to stir class-discussion on ageism and ageivism.
2020
England
Director: Roger Michell