WALTZING ANNA is a breath of fresh air about a subject that goes largely ignored by not only the the film industry but society in general: the plight of the elderly who are left to languish in corrupt nursing homes. While this may not be the finest script ever produced, it has a strong purpose and wonderful veteran actors to flesh out the plot and make it both charming and poignant. Beautiful Betsy Palmer and the marvelous, versatile Pat Hingle as two residents who keep a secret from the home administrator are absolutely the heart and soul of the movie. Their performance had me in tears a number of times. The film's resolution is terrific--truly a "bravo" moment.
I think a lot of reviewers here seemed to miss the credits where Robert Capelli dedicated the film to his grandfather, who inspired this project. One idiot called it a "vanity" film. I call it a labor of love. My grandmother died in a nursing home that employed the horrific practices of sedating the elderly in order to hasten their demise (she died three days after she was admitted). This film was made to memorialize people like her who didn't get the chance to be rescued from the misery and the abuse one finds in most nursing homes.
WALTZING ANNA should wake people up to the fact that a nursing home can be an active, useful, cheerful residence for living, rather than a corrupt, smelly, dreary place where old people are dropped off to die or be killed by money-hungry administrators. Palmer and Hingle subtly but effectively prove to that true love can come at any age, to the elderly as well as to dewy-eyed youngsters. I applaud Capelli for making this film. Again: Bravo!
I think a lot of reviewers here seemed to miss the credits where Robert Capelli dedicated the film to his grandfather, who inspired this project. One idiot called it a "vanity" film. I call it a labor of love. My grandmother died in a nursing home that employed the horrific practices of sedating the elderly in order to hasten their demise (she died three days after she was admitted). This film was made to memorialize people like her who didn't get the chance to be rescued from the misery and the abuse one finds in most nursing homes.
WALTZING ANNA should wake people up to the fact that a nursing home can be an active, useful, cheerful residence for living, rather than a corrupt, smelly, dreary place where old people are dropped off to die or be killed by money-hungry administrators. Palmer and Hingle subtly but effectively prove to that true love can come at any age, to the elderly as well as to dewy-eyed youngsters. I applaud Capelli for making this film. Again: Bravo!