It's THE long-term relationship documentary: Jin Moyoung's Korean family tale -- MY LOVE, DON'T CROSS THAT RIVER

You could ask for more -- more detail, more exploration, more history and maybe more regret -- but never mind. The new South Korean documentary MY LOVE, DON'T CROSS THAT RIVER -- during the making of which first-time documentarian Jin Moyoung spent 15 months filming a pair of nearly century-old forever-sweethearts as they make their way toward death -- gives you plenty to view and consider. Sure, this film is an inevitable downer but it is also an incredibly beautiful ode to "togetherness."

Mr. Jin (the filmmaker is shown at left) has the ability to keep himself and his camera remarkably unobtrusive, at once turning us viewers into flies-on-the-wall and his happy couple into near-perfect examples of as close as we living might get to something approaching "eternal" love. Granted, Korean culture is a good deal different from ours here in America (my god, where are their guns?!), but it would take, I think, an awfully hard-hearted viewer to be able to withstand watching this old couple and their extended family, including a couple of treasured pets, without feeling enormous empathy.

Jin's film begins with the sight (above) and sound of what looks suspiciously like grief, and it ends with this same sight and sound. In between, however, there is so much amusement to be found, as well as a stunning amount of beauty in the colors, landscape and wildlife, that most of the film seems much more joyous than dark.

This very aging couple exults in charming "fights" involving everything from leaves to snow to water, and the simply gorgeous color and texture of their clothes -- where do they get these and how in hell do they keep them so clean?! -- are, I suppose, part of the most-likely dying tradition of Korean country life.

We see the couple's children and grand children, and watch as an argument breaks out among the younger set, while the senior couple simply sits and watches. Later, the man's son tells his dying dad, "I'm sorry I couldn't be a better son. From now on, I will!"

We see the untimely death of one pet, while the other grows pregnant and gives birth. We maybe wonder from time to time where this pair's anger has gone (she seems to reserve most of hers for a local reverend's dog), and as our old man worsens, we also ask if Korea perhaps offers no kind of hospice care.

We do see specifics of the man's distress and illness, but death, when it comes, is handled with a fine and artful touch. We learn how important a belief in an afterlife is to these two, and what the burning of clothes signifies for the dying. The filmmaker even includes a lovely flashback (not too far back, mind you, as he only spent a little over one year filming) that takes us briefly to happier, more colorful times.

And then we're back to that snow scene and the grief and tears. Yet what we've lived through in between this beginning and end is memorable, moving and mostly enthralling.

From Film Movement and running only 86 minutes, My Love Don't Cross That River opens this Friday, June 17, in New York City at the Angelika Film Center and Lincoln Plaza Cinema, and in Los Angeles the following week on June 24 and 25 at various Laemmle theaters. From there, the film will expand to many other cities in the weeks and months to come. Click here then scroll down to see all currently scheduled playdates, along with cities and theaters.

SCN: Old-age gets the animated treatment in Ignacio Ferreras' moving WRINKLES

WRINKLES, a new Spanish animated movie that makes its debut at Spanish Cinema Now today, Sunday, December 16, at 2pm, is based on a prize-winning graphic novel by Paco Roca, about a retired bank executive whose Alzheimer's becomes too much for his son's family to handle, and so he is shipped off to a nursing facility. Yes, this is not your everyday, kid-friendly animation tale. (Together with Consuming Spirits, which just opened this week, these two films may constitute, not a trend -- that would take three -- but at least an alternative.)

As directed by Ignacio Ferreras, shown at left, the movie has a simply terrific beginning -- taking place in a bank as a loan is being negotiated -- which then pulls you up short. The animation here is simple, old-fashioned and easy to watch, if not particularly distinguished in any way. There are some cute, funny, sweet touches every so often that keep you alert, but what pulls you in and holds you are the subject, the story and the characters of the residents of this home, brought to relatively specific and pretty sorrowful life by Roca, Ferrares and the animation and writing teams.

The ex-banker, above, to whom his roommate refers as "Rocke-feller," is proper, kindly and losing it slowly, while the roommate (below) is a "main chance" kind of guy who thinks nothing of conning the other residents out of their money ("They won't remember" is his excuse) but still takes good care of his new friend.

There is also the totally out-of-it Modesto, and his wife -- who still loves him above all else and cares for him as though he is still fully conscious -- and another, very proper old woman, who when the pair make a break for it, shown below, decides to join them.

There are a few more people of interest, and a staff who are generally portrayed as being as caring and kindly as possible -- without, it is clear, having much idea what these old folk might be experiencing and/or feeling about it all.

There are some lovely and moving moments (above and below) when the present gives way to memory and the past, and although the movie is sentimental, it does not shy away from nor try to disguise the darkness at the center of this situation. It does offer that roommate the chance to redeem himself, which he takes -- which may not be believable but gives the ending an "up" note.

And so, if you find, as did I, a tear or two falling as you watch, well, you're entitled. Wrinkles takes on the children who place their parents into an environment like this. It not judgmental: Caring for an Alzheimer's patient is no easy task but, then, neither is a group-home environment an easy place to be consigned to.

Wrinkles may just be getting a U.S. release, for I noted in the SCN program a thank you to GKIDS for allowing this screening. I hope so, for the movie certainly has significance worldwide. It plays at SCN once only: today, Sunday, December 16, at 2pm at the Walter Reade. Click here for tickets.

LAST WILL AND EMBEZZLEMENT: must-see documentary for seniors -- & their offspring

Not simply an expose of scams against seniors -- of which you may have seen a news story or two over the years -- but a thoughtful, frightening, reasoned exploration of these crimes, how they came about, what can be done (or can't, together with why not), LAST WILL AND EMBEZZLEMENT is a model documentary in many ways. I am sorry that the earlier DVD sent me to screen never arrived and its replacement came too late for me to cover prior to opening. But the film is so good and so important to our currently fast-aging society, that I am taking away from other posts to get this one up today.

The film's co-producer Pamela S.K. Glasner and her father were victims of one such scam, and their story, along with those of several others -- including long-time actor Mickey Rooney (below) -- are shown here. And while each story is heart-rending on its own, what the filmmakers do with these by talking with various experts in the field of geriatric care -- attorneys, social workers, and geriatric care managers, as well as the victims and their families -- is even more important.

You come away from this documentary with a renewed understanding of and appreciation for the plight of the elderly (and their families), as well as a better understanding of what can and can't be done in solving the crisis. The current combination of our (and the world's) increasingly aged population and the increasing economic strain on both individuals and the state has created a world in which the criminal justice system cannot or will not prosecute many of these crimes. Consequently, criminals who prey upon the elderly see and make use of their increased opportunity.

As one victim points out, "At least my father, with Alzheimers, did not realize what had happened." This, notes the film's excellent narrator Artie Pasquale, "is remedy by dementia." And it is terribly unjust. To its credit, the movie-makers (talented first-timer Deborah Louise Robinson, shown at right, is the director and co-writer) point out the difference between elder crime/abuse and interfering with an elderly's person's civil rights. As one social worker explains, It may be stupid or crazy, but any one of us has the right to go spend all our money on gambling -- unless we're found not to be of sound mind. There's often a fine line here, and the filmmakers admit this.

We get a very good explanation of the differences between Alzheimers disease and dementia. They are not the same: As the social worker points out, "When you've met one Alzheimer's patient, you've simply met one Alzheimer's patient, for the disease strikes each one in different ways."

You come away from this documentary with a much clearer understanding of the big picture regarding elder care, especially -- as is happening more and more often worldwide, because of a population that is living to a much older age --- older seniors who are being cared for by their already-senior relatives.

What to do? Put laws in place that make it more difficult for scam artists to cheat the elderly. More important, though, is insisting that law enforcement prosecute and punish the offenders. And that, in these current economic times, is a lot more problematic. In any case, this is indeed an important, must- see documentary that does its subject full justice.

Opening this past Friday at New York City's Quad Cinema, Last Will and Embezzlement, 82 minutes, from Starjack Entertainment, will also be shown at other venues across the country. Click here to see them all. Or order the DVD when it's available. In either case, see the film.

Stills, except for the one of Ms Robinson, 
are courtesy of Starjack Entertainment. 

Alda/Brooke's OUT LATE tracks elderly GLBTs coming to terms with coming out

There are many different subjects that could be addressed in a documentary about gay and lesbian senior citizens, but one that you might not immediately expect nor think about is the fact that many of these  people have come "out" quite late in life -- due mainly to the restrictions placed on homosexual identity back in the 40s, 50s and 60s, when they were young and/or coming of age. Youth these days cannot begin to under-stand the no-no nature of admitting to your homosexuality back then. Your family could have you placed in a hospital and given electroshock treatments.  Not that this is any better than meeting the end accorded, say, to Matthew Shephard -- but that, thankfully, is a relative anomaly these days. Hospitalization, immediate firing from your job, even jail could await you a half century or more ago.

In their 62-minute movie OUT LATE (cute play on words, that title!) first-time film-makers Beatrice Alda and Jennifer Brooke (you can find out more about them by clicking here, then clicking on "About the Film" and then on About the Filmmakers) point their camera and microphone at five senior GLBTs -- the youngest of whom, Cathy Jambrosic (from Kansas, shown above, right, with her partner) came out age 57; the oldest, Elaine Weber (shown below) managed it at age 79! Cathy's story proves the most interesting because it probes her relationship with her neigh-bors, a straight-laced Christian couple who prove good friends nonetheless, especially when the state of Kansas passes its law that restricts marriage to a man and a woman. The conversation and self-analysis that goes on with these friends -- involving reli-gion and morality -- is quite interesting, and even rather inspiring.

Old Elaine, on the other hand, after as good a marriage as would seem possible for a lesbian to have with a straight man, is finding it difficult and tricky to land a partner at her advanced age. Feisty and with a fine sense of humor, she's still looking, but the pickings seem thin (most of the possibilities have already died off), and while a number of people are happy to be a "friend," nobody yet has come forth as a possible lover.

The male realm is represented by a quite nice Canadian fellow named Walter, shown at right, who, with his partner Bill, takes us through the "good old days" and into our present decade. The pair comes out to their church, and the experience is salutary; while a few parishioners balk, most are OK with it.

The oldest man, Ken, was married to a woman for decades, and had a good marriage. Even the sex was enjoyable, he explains, though he never felt truly comfortable with a woman's body -- even though he had practically no experience with a man's. As part of his new education, Ken goes through The Body Electric's sexual experience, of which his "spiritual guide" tells us that he still recalls how very large was Ken's member.

Donald, now going under the name of LeAnna, is the one transgen-dered in the group, making his change at age 60. His reminiscence of his time in the military -- and of keeping nylons hidden in is his regular stockings in order to have something feminine nearby -- is both funny and sad. Those were the days!

The movie, at its hour-length, never outstays it welcome. If it takes awhile to get going (the scenes of seniors dancing in a disco seem to go on too long and show up once too often), Out Late find its focus and scores its points once we get to know the five participants and some of their significant-others. Made in 2008, it is finally available on DVD, via First Run Features, for rental (at least you can SAVE it to your Netflix queue) or for purchase.

Have a good, bawdy laugh: Watch some OLD JEWS TELLING JOKES

Got an old Jew in your family? We have. She's 95, as a matter of fact, and so we sat her down in front of the TV and popped in the DVD machine this little disc (only 45 minutes long) entitled OLD JEWS TELLING JOKES. She laughed. And laughed. Not at every joke (many of them are... how might she have put it in her day: dirty?) but those weren't the ones she failed to grasp. Rather, they were the ones after which she laughed the hardest. But some jokes depend on one's knowledge of events, people or things with which our nonagenarian may not have been familiar (or by now have forgotten). In any case, after the show, Great Grandma proclaimed herself very happy to have seen it.
You know what? We were, too.

Many of the jokes are very funny, and the folk who tell them are funny, too -- in their own odd way. I don't believe any of the performers are professional comedians. They're just old jews, enjoying themselves immensely and, as directed by Sam Hoffman, passing that enjoyment on to you.

Old Jews Telling Jokes is available for sale from First Run Features and for rent via Netflix or other online (and maybe even some in-store) video rental establishments.