New movies from old directors

GUARDIAN NEWS SERVICE By Geoffrey Macnab Who says film is a young man's game? Three of this season's most intriguing movies are by directors well past 70. Geoffrey Macnab on how they do it - and why others failed. We are often told that cinema is a young person's medium. The majority of cinemagoers are in their teens. Orson Welles made Citizen Kane when in his mid-20s. Film-makers tend to be at their most creative and energetic at the outset of their careers - when, paradoxically, financiers are least willing to support them. But the next few months sees the release of three films by directors we can, without wishing to be rude, safely assume to be in the twilight of their careers. Nicolas Roeg, whose comedy Puffball is in cinemas this Friday, turns 80 in August; the 88-year-old French auteur Eric Rohmer and the Portuguese... [read full story]