Switzerland 2019, 52' (85' not available atm) min, HDA Conobs Production
by Beat Oswald
Golden Age
Extravaganza and glamour lining up in an existential contest against isolation, slackening limbs and lethargy. With unique access behind the scenes, the Palace in Miami is shown as a buzzing and luxurious senior living community, repeatedly voted “America’s Number One”. The seniors live in a world full of parties and entertainment, but the Palace is also a thriving business…Who said that old age has to be boring? Golden Age opens the doors to the Palace, a retirement home of the kind that you have never seen before, in Miami. Gildings, ostentatious chandeliers, marble floors; like a cross between a luxury hotel and an Americanised copy of Versailles, the place is presented by its developers as the most beautiful retirement home in the Unites States. The residents here are pampered by an army of employees devoted to their every whim, in a permanent party atmosphere. This abundance of luxury, extravagance and entertainment is nonetheless not enough to remove the anxieties of those who live there. Nor can it hide the intentions of the investors for whom old age is above all a source of income and a growing market. Golden Age takes us on a journey into this baroque universe which tries to suppress the fear of death through dollars, questioning, in a dizzying visual whirlwind, our relationship to old age in its most universal aspect.
Nyon (int. Premiere National Competition), Solothurner Filmtage, Miami, Dharamshala, Ciné Façade Canadian Centre of Architecture