The magic of Adaline

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“The Age of Adaline” comes to the M.V. Film Center on Thursday, April 25, as part of the “Science on Screen” project. Before the film, longevity and movement coach Jim Lobley will give a presentation called “Thinking About Movement From a Longevity Perspective: Putting Science Into Practice.”

Directed by Lee Toland Krieger, this film, while apparently realistic, is told with a remarkable element of fantasy. It stars Blake Lively as Adaline, and she is the first child born in San Francisco on Jan. 1, 1908. After marrying in 1929, she has a daughter named Flemming (played as a child by Izabel Pearce, then by Cate Richardson, and subsequently by Ellen Burstyn) in 1932, but her husband dies in 1937 during construction of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Adaline next crashes her car into a freezing lake and dies, but a lightning strike makes her come alive, and stops her aging process. She is arrested in 1953 after a traffic violation in which the police take her ID because she looks like she is 29, although she is actually 45. The FBI try to abduct her for a study, but she escapes and spends the rest of her life on the run, changing her identification each time. This main character remains 29 years old for almost eight decades. She lives a solitary life, never allowing herself to get too close to anyone, which may lead to revealing her secret.

Adaline calls to say goodbye to her normally aging, now adult daughter Flemming. Next, she falls in love with Ellis (Michiel Huisman) in 2015 and attends his parents’ 40th anniversary. Ellis’s father (Harrison Ford) is astonished to recognize her from his past. In “The Age of Adaline,” an appropriate title, Adaline claims her life has had a magical form, but the film tells the story of her life in remarkably realistic terms.

Information and tickets for “The Age of Adaline” are available at mvfilmsociety.com

 

2 COMMENTS

  1. Hi! I’m one of the writers on Age of Adaline (I get notified via Google when news of the film happens) – I live in LA area but I am a huge lover of your little town (perrrft place to write I think) – Anyway I usually don’t respond to these alerts but I had to to this one—

    Thank you for your kind words about the film; I owe so much of my career to Adaline and am so proud of the final product that came from the script – it truly was a labor of love.

    Salvador Paskowitz, Laguna Beach, Ca

    • Salvador, this is one of my favorite modern movies. I rewatch it often and love that it has the charm of some classics. I always cry over Adaline’s relationship with her dogs. That part really hits home.

      Wonderful work! 💜

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