A Slow Loook at Growing Old

   'Still Mine'. Starring Genevieve Bujold and James Cromwell. Directed by Michael McGowan.

     "There's dance in the old dame yet," an old woman said about 40 years ago. This became the title of a book on old age. But for Irene(Genevieve Bujold), there's not much left energy left for dancing. She and her husband of many years (James Cromwell) live in a 2,000 acre farm in rural New Brunswick.
      "She's fine," Craig says about his wife. But Irene's not fine. She's slowly losing her mind, perhaps to Alzheimer's. Craig meanwhile tries to build a new house for them both.
      But the 80 year-old Craig runs head on into the new rules and regulations that govern the building code. Unlike the recent French film 'Amour', this film is a happy film. This couple laugh together, kiss, make love and reminisce about the past.
   Director Michael McGowan gives us a slowly paced film of ageing and its downsides. Sometimes the film moves too slowly. But the film is also full of stark beautiful images of rural New Brunswick, courtesy of the wonderful photography of Brendan Stacey.
     "Atlantic Canada is plagued by a culture of defeatism," Prime Minister Stephen Harper once said in effect. But there's no defeatism in this film. It's a story of a couple triumphing over the problems of ageing, as death lurks in the background.