IN this engaging documentary, tyro writer/director Lina Plioplyte teams with blogger Ari Seth Cohen to introduce seven New York women whose eclectic personal styles and vital spirits have guided their approach to aging.
The oldest at 95, taken to hospital during a function to announce the new public face of a well-known fashion house, died that same night. Tall, elegant, legally blind former dancer Afro-American Tajah, who got the gig, is a stunner.
The youngest, Tziporah who at 62 goes around the city not in a limo or cab but on her bicycle, has a great collection of wearable and other stuff.
Eighty-year-old self-proclaimed “Countess of Glamour” and boutique owner Lynn, a narcissist with a penchant for over-the-top accessories, is finally achieving her dreams of celebrity while simultaneously facing the reality of her and her husband’s mortality.
My favourite is Hungarian-born Ilona, tiny, hunched forward by what I judge to be osteoporosis, with short carrot-coloured hair, a zest for living and a variety of creative talents. Her conte drawings of young women could occupy space on any art collector’s walls and she drew the portrait on the cover of one of Ayn Rand’s books.
The film achieves a comfortable balance between how seven old dolls look and their optimism about the tail-ends of their lives. In an otherwise empty cinema, I took unexpected enjoyment from watching their enthusiasm for doing that.
At Palace Electric
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