The decade of the 2010s and the early 2020s have witnessed the release of several high-profile films in different European countries which featured male protagonists over 60 years of age who were faced with reformulations of their notions of maleness and masculinity and subsequent losses of meaning. Films such as La Grande Bellezza in Italy, Western in Germany, Dolor y Gloria in Spain or The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry in the UK presented a variety of male protagonists in search for meaning while existing in different national and socioeconomic contexts within a wider European milieux.
This lecture proposes to connect ageing, masculinity and representation through the psychoanalytic works of Viktor Frankl and his system of “logotherapy” (1959). Frankl, psychiatrist and survivor of the Holocaust, proposed that the “primary motivational force in man” is the search for meaning. Applying logotherapy to La Grande Bellezza, Western, Dolor y Gloria and The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, this lecture proposes to compare similarities and differences in how these searches for meaning by ageing male characters are articulated. The analysis will enable to chart how ageing is conceived and how it intersects with other notions of class, gender values, national constructions and European politics and economic dynamics. Ultimately, the purpose of this lecture is to explore a methodology for a flexible understanding of European identity as it relates to ageing and masculinity.
Dr. Luis Freijo is a Research Associate at the Department of Film Studies at King’s College London, where he works for the project "AGE-C: Ageing and Gender in European Cinema". His research has previously focused on the dynamics of World Cinema and film genre studies, specifically the global film Western. He also has a previous background in journalism in Spain, where he worked on radio, written press and, especially, the private network Telecinco.
The Cornelia Goethe Colloquia are an open discussion forum for interdisciplinary women's and gender studies. Interested parties are cordially invited!
