My Love Don't Cross That River: Film Review

Released
27 November 2014

Director and cinematographer Jin Mo-young spent 15 months filming a couple from South Korea who had been married for 76 years. Jo Byeong-man is 98 years old, and his wife,  Kang Kye-yeol, is 89 years old.  

The resulting documentary--My Love, Don't Cross That River--depicts this couple engaging in daily activities such as shopping, cooking, eating, doing laundry, doing light yard work and in other ways still meeting their needs. 

The first half of the film depicts their playful interaction with each other, their love for their dogs, and their ability to manage fairly well in their late life. 

By the midpoint, the documentary starts introducing a number of challenges that the couple face. 

It's clear that Jo Byeong-man's cough is an indication of growing health challenges. Kang Kye-yeol also talks about the loss of half of their twelve children when she purchases clothing for them to have in the afterlife. 

Happy 9th Blogoversary

Image by Jenny C.
via Creative Commons

Today marks the 9th Blogoversary for The Generation Above Me (TGAM). I started this blog when I was a graduate student, earning a master's in Gerontology aka Aging Studies.  

I wanted a place to save links to more authoritative sources than the papers I was writing for my seminar classes. I also wanted to save reviews for books and films about aging for my own reference.  

Over time, family, friends, and associates would ask me questions about their parents' aging process and their own. The blog became a place for me to write up what I learned for others faced with the same set of age-correlated challenges or opportunities. 

For the first six years, my blogoversary post included a list of the overall top views for TGAM. However, I have found that with 436 posts published over nine years, the Top 20 views have not changed substantially.  

Most of the Top 20 All-Time Views for this blog are part of these series of posts--or they are in the spirit of these posts: 

Films about Aging.  The links for Films about Alzheimer's Disease (and other dementias), Films Set in Nursing Homes, and Films about the Dying Process are the three most popular posts in this series. I enjoy watching films about aging because reading academic studies can leave me cold. Aging is an holistic activity that includes emotions and relationships.  Films do a good job depicting complexities and nuance. I highly suggest the documentaries since many feature films can gloss over some of the more pragmatic concerns. 

Books about Aging  Books about Dementia receives the most views, but I am partial to books about Spirituality and Aging. I spent forty years studying and teaching college English courses. And it is my nature to read a great deal when faced with new challenges and opportunities. I hope that my efforts hear can serve others. And writing reviews helps me to recall more details from books read years prior. 

Image by bairo via Creative Commons.