Five great movies in the Young at Heart Film Festival
Take your older relative or friend to film you’ll both adore. By Nick Dent
01 Harry and Snowman
In 1956, Harry de Leyer bought gelding Snowman for $80 at an auction for horses bound for the slaughterhouse. Within two years, horse and owner had taken out the triple crown of show jumping. Harry, now in his eighties, with the help of members of his family, retells this ultimate underdog tale in a heartwarming documentary featuring plenty of footage from the era.
02 Grandma
Veteran comedian Lily Tomlin stars as a lesbian poet on a quest to help her granddaughter (Julia Garner) raise the money for an abortion. Tomlin is on fire here: feisty, irascible, ready with verbal putdowns or well-timed whacks with a hockey stick, and with a lot to convey about women’s rights that today’s generation of women sometimes seems to have forgotten.
03 A Streetcar Named Desire
Marlon Brando’s breakthrough performance in Elia Kazan’s 1951 adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play is a thing to behold. He’s sex on legs as Stanley “Stella!” Kowalski, and ably matched by Vivien Leigh as Blanche Dubois, the faded southern belle without a dime. This is one cinema classic worth catching on the big screen.
04 Seymour: An Introduction
Seymour Bernstein, 87, is a former concert pianist who quit 35 years ago suffering stage fright. Actor Ethan Hawke met him socially and was so impressed by his eloquence and talent that he made this documentary. Bernstein emerges as a profound thinker and teacher whose wisdom is as inspiring as his piano playing.
05 Mia Madre
This warm and engrossing drama from Italy focuses on the troubles of a filmmaker (Margherita Buy) who is trying to direct a movie while her mother is ailing in hospital, and in turn finds herself having to mother a temperamental movie star (John Turturro). It’s a highly enjoyable film with fascinating older women characters.
Young at Heart Seniors Film
Festival Palace Balwyn and Brighton Bay Cinemas. www.youngatheart.net.au. $6-$19. Apr 11-17.