Love transcends age. Inspired by real-life stories of elderly couples caught up in the social services system, Paul Duddridge’s Together is a powerful drama about an elderly couple who get separated into different care homes against their will.
See the US premiere of “Together” on February 17, 2019 @ 1:00 pm at Cinema Village (22 East 12th Street) as part of New York City’s 8th Annual Winter Film Awards International Film Festival. Winter Film Awards Olivia Butler recently spoke with director Paul Duddridge about the film.
You never really see stories about the elderly. Protagonists in film are usually young. What inspired you to create a story about characters over the age of 60?
I think that’s why the subject appealed so much. We have an increasingly elderly population in the west, yet we still predominantly talk to young audiences. It’s pretty counter intuitive to exclude a huge and growing demographic for whom film is a familiar and popular medium. At one time I wanted to remake Romeo and Juliet, but it’s difficult in the west as teenagers have so much freedom to make decisions about their own lives that being controlled by families is a little less relatable. Seniors however are frequently controlled by their families, society and circumstances outside their control. So this is pretty much Romeo and Juliet for the elderly.
I love moments where real-life is stranger than fiction. You said seeing a couple in real life while you’re filming a fictional one as a good omen. Was it the thematic timing or something else that made you see it as a good omen?
One day I’ll be smart enough to see a coincidence as thematic timing, I’m way more simplistic than that. We were literally about to shoot a scene where our heroine is wheeled, by her elderly husband, down the middle of the street. Not on the sidewalk but right along the white lines in the street. We had to pause filming to allow an identical real life couple to do exactly the same thing. Something I’d conceived as a hero shot was actually playing out in front of the entire crew. It showed me that something I’d thought of as symbolic and extreme was also real. It felt like a good omen.
Your treatment of your characters is marvelous. They feel like real people. As you said in one of your anecdotes, you mention the usual depiction of senior citizens as senile. Was there a moment before you started making the movie that you wanted to depict the elderly as people? It’s a rarity to see in film and I applaud you for a job well done!
Wow, thank you for that, truly that means a great deal to me. I like when cozy relatable characters do terrible things. The Guardian called the movie ‘Hogarthian’. To depict the elderly as real people is probably the most important point of the exercise for me. I love that. We’ve seen such progress over recent decades where previously disenfranchised social groups (ethnic minorities, LGBTQ, disabled etc.) were able to express injustice simply by engaging the majority to explore how they would feel if treated the same way. It beggars belief that in 2019 we are still able to patronise and ignore a huge part of the population with total impunity. It seems so obvious to me that it can’t be right.
I recognized Dominic Carter immediately from his voice. What’s the story on how you got him to act in Together?
I’d originally set the movie in middle earth where our protagonists had to fight uncaring dragons, so Dominic sprang to mind immediately. When I revised the setting to present day England It seemed unfair to recast so we just changed the costume and confiscated the sword.
In reality I just wanted the very best actors in the UK, this had to work as a realistic piece of drama, I’d always been a huge fan of Dominic and I was so grateful that he responded to the role and agreed to be a part of this.
In the opening, the credits mention that separations of couples happen like this a lot and much of the film was inspired by “too many true stories”. Were there any that stuck out to you? Why or why not?
There really are too many, but it’s scarily common in the UK and Canada. Sadly it’s beginning to happen in the USA too I hear. There are one or two stand out stories that reflect this movie, well-meaning health professionals who know best, separating loving couples. It just defies common sense.
I loved that Rosemary and Philip fought so hard to return to their way of life. It rings true about the saying, the older you get, the less care you give. These two don’t care that everyone else around them says what’s best for them. This passion for each other, I assume, is from some of the true stories too? Did you cherry pick a particular story or was it a combination of different stories?
Thank you again; it’s a combination of lots of stories. The worst bits of all of them. Everything that happens in this movie has happened to a couple in real life; I just made everything happen to this pair.
Is it common for elderly couples to be tested on their ability to live together on their own, or was this an invention for the screenplay?
It is way too common; the questions in the competency test in the movie are real. They are actual test questions. It wasn’t invented for the movie, it really does happen. There was a couple in the UK that had exactly the experience outlines in the movie. She went in to hospital, he was deemed unable to take care of himself so was institutionalised, she left hospital and it was decided that she was now too weak to take care of her husband so he was never returned home. Shocking stuff.
What was your favorite and least favorite thing about shooting Together?
My favorite thing was working with Sylvia Syms and Peter Bowles. Both have international movie credits but in the UK they solid gold legends. Truly an honor working with them.
The worst part was the budget constraints on some of the shots in the film. I decided to go ahead and shoot as soon as we had enough to commence. (I was interested in the topicality). Had I waited to raise more budget we could have had a more cinematic experience but perhaps less current. I’m happy with how it turned out.
The film is written incredibly well. Did you spend time with any elderly relatives to get the tone of the characters’ dialogue?
I love you. You’re so good for my ego. It’s funny you should say that. I actually wrote it as two thirty five year olds and then put those words in the seniors’ mouth. It heightens the injustice. I think we are all in our thirties at every stage of our lives.
I was not expecting such an ending. It was bold and says a lot about Rosemary and Philip and their love for each other. What made you choose such an act for them?
When all our decisions are taken out of our hands, and our protestations are falling on deaf ears I think it’s how many of us would react.
Is there anything you want people to know before their viewing of Together?
If we’re lucky we will all be Rosemary and Philip’s age one day. Now would be a good time to start listening to senior citizens. So by the time we’re old we’ve changed the culture. It’s pure self-interest.
Olivia Butler
Olivia is a senior at SUNY Purchase and getting her undergraduate degree with the intention of getting an MFA in Screenwriting within the next five years. She is lover of filmmaking with a specific passion in screenwriting. She’s a jack of all trades but aspires to be a master of one.
About Winter Film Awards
New York City’s 8th Annual Winter Film Awards International Film Festival runs February 14-23-2019. Check out a jam-packed lineup of 89 fantastic films in all genres from 32 countries, including shorts, features, Animation, Drama, Comedy, Thriller, Horror, Documentary and Music Video. Hollywood might ignore women and people of color, but Winter Film Awards celebrates everyone!
Winter Film Awards is an all volunteer, minority- and women-owned registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in 2011 in New York City by a group of filmmakers and enthusiasts. The program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the NY State Council on the Arts.
