Written and directed by Ralph Arlyck, a figurehead of American independent documentary, Arlyck contemplates aging, mortality, and finding contentment in the present while looking back on his life and career.
In recent years we’ve seen more and more films showing that age is just a number, you can still find love, friendship and purpose over the age of seventy. While that’s certainly true, they often tend to view aging through a rosy lens and skip over all the difficulties that elderly people face, while Ralph Arlyck seeks to give you an honest window into aging with I Like it Here. It’s a meandering documentary, it has a clear direction but likes to flow from subject to subject rather than focusing on one or two particular stories.
While that’s not always successful, here it works quite well because Arlyck has a lot of interesting characters in his close circle. Some of which have enjoyably blunt personalities, which is a nice contrast to Arlyck’s calm, collected narration. Although perhaps its biggest strength is being able to explore all of the illness, loss and struggle without ever becoming overtly negative and depressing. He manages to highlight the importance of compassion and community, not just the difficulties but how they are more easily dealt with, with a support system in place.
It’s a simpler look at the realities of aging, it’s very personal and perhaps even too personal at times, you may learn a few things you didn’t expect. It’s not filled with anger and frustration, resenting the aging process, it’s purely portraying how different people handle the experience. Creating an unusual mix of sadness and charisma, resilience and a little bit of resignation. It’s a compelling and engaging combination.
I Like it Here shows you aging with a plain, simple but endearing lens. Ralph Arlyck portrays both the physical realities and the psychological roads, for those dealing with the struggle in front of them while anticipating the further ones to come. Yet Arlyck manages to make it more light-hearted than you might expect, it’s a heavy topic but dealt with in a gentle, friendly manner. Highlighting the need for a support system, aging is a lot of work but can be a little easier with compassionated friends and family around to help.
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