Sometimes art can open your eyes upon a subject for which you had previously assumed clarity.

Mid-August Lunch is the directorial debut of Italian actor and screenwriter Gianni Di Gregorio. The film centres on a middle-aged man who shares an apartment with his elderly mother in order to care for her and who, in order to service his debts to his landlord and his doctor, agrees to take in their elderly relatives over the Ferragosto public holiday.

A beautiful comedy ensues with Gianni having to run the gauntlet of catering for four very individual women, each with their own contrasting but equally testing nature.

This film illustrates that the dependence age brings is not the same as the one during childhood. It is not life in reverse. Decay of the body or the mind does not necessitate decay of the heart. These women have known independence. They are used to the responsibility for themselves in both security and freedom. To relegate them to passivity, to treat them as a mere patient, is undignified.

Consider the time, love and resources involved ensuring this deserved level of dignity and freedom in old age. In many circumstances, just halfway to this level is challenging.

The film awakened me to the humanity of elderly care and the respect that all those involved in a relationship of dependency are due. Contrary to our world of profit, more should be done to enable as much as possible this labour of kinship.

This month's favourites:
   Sum 41, All Killer, No Filler
   Victor Hugo, Les Misérables (Still!)
   Mid-August Lunch (2008)