Review of Youth (2015) by Dawdlingpoet — 24 Nov 2021

This is a drama film with music as its main theme or element. Other themes include nostalgia, reticence and family. I found myself a bit unsure about this film at first, with the main plot not being made at all clear until a good few scenes in - it seemed unclear what who was who and what was going on, which didn't appear to be a great deal at the time, with people lounging about outside the fancy hotel for most of the time.

I felt this was quite an enjoyable, sometimes sad and somehow relatively endearing film once the plot started to build. I reckon there are few people who, once reaching a certain stage in life, say perhaps their mid 30s (which is roughly my age), doesn't look at younger generations and wonder how different life is for those much younger than us, compared to when they were that age themselves and to generally ponder about where they've been in life and whether things were worth it. It is relatively philosophical in parts but its not entirely morbid, thankfully. There are some fairly comedic scenes present, one being when Freds daughter badgers him to say what her ex had told him about her, which, lets just say, is a bit personal but it quickly goes from an embarrassing moment to some shared hilarity. There is a definite feeling, or sense, of absurdity at times, which I'm not entirely sure what to make of. There is also some relatively witty dialogue at times - it is a bit re-assuring in a sense, although its hard to explain quite how.

Pace wise, its quite slow and ambling and as such, I wondered if its quite right to categorise it as a drama film but most of the other genres wouldn't fit, with drama being probably the closest match. I somehow found it pleasing that Fred saw that some of his presumed prejudices weren't actually the case, that he learned that some younger people can be surprising - he even helps a very young boy who struggles with his violin playing, which I found quite touching. I liked the way that it seemed Mick and Fred got pleasure from seeing such seemingly small, or insignificant, things.

Yes it is certainly sentimental and cheesy in some respects but overall, I felt it was well made and featured a good cast. Cast wise, Michael Caine plays Fred Ballinger, a stoical, philosophical sort, who is quite stubborn and frankly rightfully so! while Harvey Kietel plays Mick Boyle, Freds friend. Other cast members include Rachel Weisz as Freds daughter, Lena, Alex MacQueen as the Queen's Emissary and Paul Dano as Jimmy Tree. Also present are Paloma Faith, who makes a brief appearance and also Jane Fonda, as Brenda (Lena's ex's new 'beau').

Unsurprisingly, there is a fair amount of music featured in this film, which is mostly of the classical, some big band but otherwise conducted, type or style. It is quite good - it felt well pitched and thought out. I felt the piece played at the very end, which is mainly a slow vocal piece, sounded really quite haunting, with a bit of an ethereal feel to it.

Content wise, the film contains some nudity, with people having stripped to use the facilities in the spa, thats both male and female nudity is featured at times, although not in an especially sexual way. There is a sex scene featured but it isn't particularly graphic. There is some strong language featured and one or two sad scenes. It has been given a 15 rating to reflect this.

There were some shots featured in the film which I thought made good use of some perhaps untraditional camera angles, with the camera zooming up from the ground to emphasise what was going on in a particular scene and similar things. Other scenes feature low lighting, with the hotels lighting glowing, it makes some rooms look even more atmospheric and perhaps somehow magical than maybe they might otherwise have. Again, thats hard to explain without you having seen it yourself but suffice to say, I appreciated the cinematography.

It kept my interest throughout, which is pretty good going considering slow paced films can bore me sometimes. I liked that it didn't seem to be too patronising towards the main characters, which was a relief, so I felt. One memorable quote from the film is as follows:- "'I've grown old without ever understanding how I got here" (spoken by Fred). In that sense, it is really quite reflective and philosophical, more specifically about love and loss although also generally I suppose as well and this won't suit everyone but I certainly enjoyed it.

Yes, I would recommend this film. It seemed quite thoughtful, well thought out and features a decent cast, so I would recommend it. However, if you don't care for sentimental and nostalgia based films, then this may not be for you.