It’s easy to distinguish that the rugby player on the right is Matt Damon, but who is he shaking hands with?  Is that Nelson Mandela or Morgan Freeman?

Don’t  miss the film Invictus, directed by Clint Eastwood.  Morgan Freeman is exceptional in the role of Nelson Mandela.  Freeman had known for a long time that he would some day play the role of Mandela.   When Nelson Mandela’s autobiography was published in 1995, Mandela was asked who he thought could play him on screen.  He cited the name of Morgan Freeman.

In a recent interview in Switzerland published in Migros Magazine, his interviewer said, “Mandela is a wise man; he’s 91 years old.  You are also getting older and therefore also becoming wise?”   Freeman’s response was, “Careful.  I am getting older, but I am not becoming old.”

Age is an attitude.  Nelson Mandela, Morgan Freeman and Clint Eastwood share the fact that they are getting older – as are we!  They also share age-esteem with a positive attitude toward age that will keep them from ever becoming “old”.

Bonnie Fatio, AgeEsteem

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Clint Eastwood

Isn’t it refreshing to see that this month’s top films include veteran actresses and actors? – And that they are starring in roles featuring their mature ages?

In these “Must See Films” we find Meryll Streep (60), Morgan Freeman (73),  Alec Baldwin (52), Steve Martin (65), with Colin Firth (50), and George Clooney who at 49 is bringing maturity to his charm.   Will he manage to cultivate the same charm that Clint Eastwood oozes at 80?

It takes AgeEsteem on the part of these icons of cinema to “act their age” on the screen, and to become real role models for us.  Thank you!

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Movies – Films

Superb  ****     Very Good  ***      Good **     Mediocre  *     Forget It   -

UNMISSABLES

Up In The Air ****     Suave, gliding through airports as though they were his home with his myriad privileged credit cards, George Clooney’s character flies around the country firing people for firms which don’t want to deal with the mess. He’s great at his job  and loves his unattached lifestyle.  Seamlessly directed by Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking and Juno), this deceptively subtle film is a metaphor for today’s modern, empty world – from a charged beginning to an uncertain end. Clooney is excellent, once again proving he’s not just a gorgeous guy. This is Oscar material all the way…

Brothers ****     Brodre, the gripping 2004 Danish film by Suzanne Bier has been transformed here into an American work and quite fittingly, as it concerns family tensions and the war in Afghanistan. With a strong cast including Natalie Portman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Tobey Maguire and Sam Shepard, directed by the Irish/American Jim Sheridan (of Oscar winners such as My Left Foot and In the Name of the Father), this has proven one fine import. The “good” brother goes off to war, while the bad-boy brother stays home and becomes close to the former’s wife and children. It’s austerely modern; it’s Greek tragedy and also Shakespearean. Won’t tell you more, just go see it. And rent the Danish film too.

A Single Man ***1/2     We’re terribly lucky this season – deluged with one fine film after the other. Here’s another one, amazingly polished by first-time director, Tom Ford, who is the highly successful men’s fashion designer. Being gay and stunning-looking himself, he has made a film about a teacher mourning the loss of his lover, set in the early 60s when homosexuality was still under wraps. The mood and look of the era are impeccably captured and Colin Firth, who has perfected the art of being contained and reserved, has never been so moving. And he’s never been so trim and well attired either, all due to Ford, of course. This is quite an aesthetic work of art by a newcomer to the field. But then the painter Julian Schnabel also traversed careers brilliantly, directing Basquiat, Before Night Falls and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Once an artist, always an artist.

Invictus ***1/2     “I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul”. This quotation exemplifies the grandeur of Nelson Mandela’s life and his legacy for Africa (and in a smaller sense, the trajectory of director Clint Eastwood’s career). The film dwells mainly on Mandela’s efforts to unite his country behind its rugby team during the World Cup in 1994 and his strength and wisdom in going against the current. Morgan Freeman becomes Mandela and Eastwood does them both honor. From White Hunter, Black Heart and Bird to Bridges of Madison County and Letters from Iwo Jima, and now this tribute, Eastwood keeps proving his mastery of many genres, his understanding of diverse worlds and the control of his audience.

2 Brothers ***1/2  (vo Hebrew and English)  I’ve written this up before, but now it is finally being released in our area after garnering quite a few prizes in various festivals. It’s about two opposing brothers, this time in Israel. One is a peace activist living there and the other is a fanatic Orthodox Jew, who has moved back from New York. Their differences and struggles highlight the grave threat posed by the Orthodox community to peace in that region. Powerful and important, it is directed by Geneva-based Igaal Nidam.

It’s Complicated ***     Ah, to have a bit of fun in this sad and serious world! So here’s a film not to miss. First because it’s a love story about mature adults, second because it’s got such super actors as Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin and third, because a good romantic comedy is a rare thing. But director Nancy Meyers is an expert at the entertaining ones – such as What Women Want and Something’s Gotta’ Give. It’s a delight for the eyes and for many a belly laugh and it all makes giddy sense until the ending, which I personally did not like. But that’s only me – you and others may well think it should end in such a modern, egalitarian way….

Neptune Ingwersen

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