‘Time, memory and actors: Representation of ageing in recent Swedish feature film’

As has been noted in scholarship across various disciplines, issues of age and ageing have attracted much interest in recent years. In film production as well, ageing character actors have entered centre stage, in both popular films (for instance the Hotel Marigold films) and existential dramas (for instance Lucky, with 90-year-old Harry Dean Stanton in his last role). However, little has been written on Swedish film production in this regard. This article attempts to demonstrate, through an empirical overview, that interest in age and ageing has increased in feature film during the last two decades, not only internationally but more specifically in Swedish film. This article also strives to hypothesize, drawing on the area of memory studies, that the mere representation of ageing bodies and identities by well-known actors may inspire positive affective experiences related to memory, and that such representations, accumulatively across time, may be beneficial to health.