Tuesday, March 13th, 2012
By Robin Toyne
Nominated 2012 – Best Documentary
Who creates the pensioner? Why are there so many euphemisms for the word old? What is it that society so fears that we ignore, patronize and stereotype old people?
As a child, actor Dudley Sutton was forever being told to act his age. Now aged 77 he wants to challenge the roles that, as an actor and an individual, he is expected to play. Documentary, drama, animation, polemic and poetry intertwine as Dudley questions western society’s perceptions and prejudices of age, subverting the conventions of how old people are meant to behave.
Judges’ comments
Amidst the whimsy there, there is a hard edge to this and an element of anger at the treatment of the elderly. Genuinely informative and charming. – Tim McInnerny
A fascinating topic, and an engaging host, handled in a thankfully light and irreverent manner. It is refreshing to see a documentary which allows the subjects to just talk, and let the viewer form judgements of their own. Commendable use of dramatisation versus actuality. – Jim Field Smith
Posted in: 2012 Films In Detail