Five films that bring together youth and seniors, reviewed by Rumnique Nannar.

Middle of the Night (1959) – Directed by screen pioneer Delbert Mann, Middle of the Night is one of the best films on intergenerational relationships. The film teams Mann with Paddy Chayefsky his favourite screenwriter and playwright. The story examines the relationship between an older man (Fredric March) and his insecure secretary (Kim Novak). Fredric March, a two time Oscar winner, is just perfect for the role of Jerry Kingsley, an aging widower who is hopeful for love, unlike his business partner Lockman (Albert Dekker), who seeks pleasure with prostitutes.

Kim Novak, once called dead weight on screen by directors, finds the right amount of pathos for the jilted Betty, who finds in Jerry someone to love her truly and deeply. The lovers must grapple with their friends’ and family’s reactions to their significant age difference, but they eventually accept the couple’s need for each other.

Novak and March rely on their chemistry to make this unlikely romance work; especially in a scene where Jerry shows his virility by making love to Betty in their factory. Chayefsky’s script has a definitive eye for the New York vernacular speech, and does not adhere to the morality code when dealing with such sensitive subjects as sex and death.

Bhaji on the Beach (1993) – The first film by Bend it Like Beckham director Gurinder Chadha, Bhaji on the Beach has earned cult status in film circles for being so refreshingly honest about issues facing Indian women in England. Bhaji on the Beach focuses on a group of Indian women, young and old, who go on a trip to the seaside town Blackpool to have some fun away from their stifling and traditional lives. It’s a beautifully polished first feature by Chadha, who examines the generation gap with young women like Hashida (Sarita Khajuria), who is contemplating an abortion because it upsets her career plans or the older Asha (Lalita Ahmed) who has settled into a boring life as a video shop owner, despite her education in singing.

The film is a brilliant intergenerational flick for looking at the viewpoints of older women who moved from India to England and the second generation who try to straddle their British upbringing and Indian origins.

The script, which was written by Chadha and celebrated comedienne Meera Syal, effortlessly balances the serious issues with the hilarious Bollywood interludes that plague Asha. Also watch out for the irrepressible Zohra Sehgal, an Indian equivalent Ruth Gordon from Harold & Maude, as she plays Pushpa, the strongest defender of her dated Indian customs, who is at the receiving end of male strippers in the film’s hilarious finale. Bhaji on the Beach is a wonderful film that paved the way for many the British-Asian films to come out during the 90s.

Tokyo Story (1953) – Considered one of the best movies of all time by critics worldwide, Yasujiro Ozu’s masterpiece about aging and generational conflict still packs a punch after all these years.

The film focuses on Shukishi (Chishu Ryu) and Tomi (Chieko Higashiyama), an elderly couple who have recently retired and are looking forward to spending time with their older children, who politely oblige until the couple takes up too much of their time and money.

Tokyo Story is so beautiful in presenting the hard truths with eloquent imagery. For example, when Tomi is feeling ill, a foreboding image of a boat passing through a tunnel occurs from their window.

Ozu makes use of his famous tatami mat cinematography, where he places his shots at knee level, which heightens the intimate feel of the film and its Japanese authenticity.

Ozu paints both sides equally; the elderly couple that feel imposing and quietly hurt, and the children, who come off as detached and represent the generational gap so well. Ozu presents this predicament without the slightest judgement, and however shrewish the children appear, we can see their point of view as well.

There is the one redeeming widowed daughter-in-law who strives to keep the couple happy and welcome in her small home, and Setsuko Hara, one of Ozu’s stock heroines, projects a sadness and despair at the treatment of her in-laws. Definitely a movie that requires many boxes of tissues nearby!

Baghban (2003) – My auntyji in London proclaims that this is one of the best films ever, that she took her grown children to see this, and auntyjis all over the world came out in droves to watch this Bollywood film on aging and the generational gap.

Veteran superstars of yore, Amitabh Bachchan and Hema Malini reunite to play Raj and Pooja Malhotra, a couple torn apart by their warring children. Bollywood films have always had a strong connection to family relationships, but this interesting film deals squarely on the perspective of the middle-aged parents. The couple take early retirement from their jobs to focus on their children and grandchildren, their children each propose to take one of them in and swap each two months.

It’s easy to see why many seniors came out to see this film; separation of married elderly couples is quite common in the Indian community and seeing two of the former superstars embody the pain and upheaval drives home this point. Bachchan and Malini rise above the saccharine scenes with a perfect chemistry, especially in a scene where they recapture their romance by courting each other secretly.

However, being a Bollywood film, a simple scene wins me over where the two practice their Karva Chauth (a religious tradition where a wife fasts for her husband’s long life, and they both eat when the full moon occurs). The two carry out the ritual over the phone, and Raj, who holds back tears and pretends to eat lavish snacks while peeking into an empty fridge. Now that is cute!

Ikiru (1952) – Another masterpiece by Japanese icon Akira Kurosawa, who puts aside all the samurai swords to weave a wonderful film about an old man’s last wishes.

Kurosawa tries out an Ozu family drama, and once again, it proves what a master of genre he was. Instead of his muse Toshiro Mifune, Kurosawa allows his regular Takashi Shimura to take the reins as Watanabe, a dying government clerk who decides to a build a playground in a slum.

Kurosawa initially approaches the film in a detached manner, employing a narrator who tells the audience about Watanabe’s boring life, but through episodic incidents like Watanabe admitting his cancer to a bar patron who takes him on a rampage, we become so invested in Watanabe’s mission to make the most of his limited time. The many hurdles Watanabe has to go through to do a simple good deed reveals how all of these wage slaves are turning into Watanabe with no life and kindness to the common man.

Shimura, who played the calm and cool leader in Seven Samurai, imbues such pathos into Watanabe, especially in the final scene where he sings a childhood tune on the swing in the snow.

The film has a brilliant supporting cast of regulars of the Kurosawa stock company. In a unique casting move, he uses some key samurai of the Seven Samurai (made two years later) as crooks, gangsters and petty clerks. Ikiru serves as a deserving companion to Tokyo Story to rediscover these gems of Japanese cinema.