When I saw My Old Lady's trailer at the movies, I was a bit disappointed. It looked so silly and such a waste of good actors. The film is super well casted: Maggie Smith, Kevin Kline, Kristin Scott Thomas. By now, you already have figured out that I'm not a fan of risking this kind of disappointment. So I passed by this movie without another thought.
However, I was curious, and in this case curiosity didn't kill the cat. I thought this movie was very, very good. It is based on a play, and it is obvious since the beginning. The dialogues shows its drama origins. They are so clever, an instrument to the actors to show how amazing they are.
The ratings on imdb.com are not good, and I understand why. It is not an easy story. It is in fact too dense. I don't care, though. I like bare human pain on display, that's a fact. We all carry lots of regrets, hurt, resentment... to look at all that baggage honestly is a gift, one that movies give us constantly.
And Paris as a background is no bad at all.
Israel Horowitz, the man behind this story on stage and screen, know his Freud for sure. What moves the characters relations (the ones that we see and the other that are there even after death) is complex and honest. The choices we make in life and the ones that make us. That's not an easy subject, and it is especially intense in this movie. But so true. I was expecting silliness and I got an outstanding deep drama, with solid performances from actors that I admire a lot. It is always good to be surprised this way.
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| My Old Lady. Direct and written by Israel Hordvitz, from his own play. With: Maggie Smith, Kevin Kline, Kristin Scott Thomas. USA/UK/France, 2014, 107 min., Dolby Digital, Color (Cable TV). |
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