Growing Old 2006
Distributed by Films Media Group, PO Box 2053, Princeton, New Jersey 08543-2053; 800-257-5126
Produced by Monkeyray Productions
Directed by Michael Neel
DVD, color, 73 min.
Jr. High - Adult
Health Sciences, Social Sciences
Date Entered: 04/09/2008
Reviewed by Kay Hogan Smith, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Lister Hill Library of the Health SciencesFilms for the Humanities and Sciences enhances its reputation for quality with this documentary addressing the challenges and unacknowledged beauty of growing old in a society that fears aging. Through the stories of a number of elderly people in Massachusetts, the viewer learns that in general aging people like Bob, a technical products sales representative with cancer, and Helen, a waitress in her seventies, do not feel much different than they felt as a twenty-something beyond a few obvious physical changes. Both of their stories are testaments to the adage that keeping active and feeling needed is the key to “sticking around” longer. Then there are the more marginalized elders, such as Marie and Hattie, who both have chronic mental illnesses and live in group homes, and Robert who was homeless before a place was found for him in a nursing home. Interwoven with their stories are the perspectives of caregivers, like Dr. Paul Mazur, and careful observers like photographer Chester Higgins, who has published a book, Elder Grace, featuring elegant photographs of aged subjects. This film would provide an excellent stimulus for a discussion group or class.