Mark Rydell
Sul Lago Dorato

Some American cinema from the early '80s has a very particular dimension, nostalgic and calmly reflective, with simple tones but with characteristics that ultimately make the product significant and enjoyable. This is the case with "On Golden Pond," a film based on a screenplay by Ernest Thompson, released in 1981.

The theme addressed is aging, which inevitably affects everyone, an obligatory milestone to traverse on the journey of life. Old age with everything it brings, regrets, nostalgias, loves, and memories. Norman Thayer (Henry Fonda) is fully aware that he has reached the end of his life; he prepares to celebrate his eightieth birthday with his family with a somewhat resigned attitude, feeling old. "What does it feel like to reach eighty? Twice as bad as reaching forty," he says, asking only to spend a quiet summer in his house on a New Hampshire lake. The arrival of his daughter (Jane Fonda) and especially the adopted son Billy will awaken in Norman and his wife Ethel (K. Hepburn) the desire to live life savoring every moment.

A film with strongly twilight features, which has in its images a tangible communicative tool. There is much color, the summer and especially the autumn, open spaces that induce calm and rest. A natural necessity to set this story outside ordinary life; in fact, the couple is no longer part of it, and the problems of the "outside" world come with the return of the daughter and the obligation for Norman to confront her and resolve their relationship. Little Billy brings with him his world filled with hopes and future, and although initially confronting the "mummies" is difficult, he will eventually be conquered by old Norman and his passion for fishing.

A film that deals with the important theme of intergenerational confrontation, cultivating human relationships, almost a story suitable for Allen's introspective genre, only a little more sentimental and less complex. Magnificently performed by two icons of cinema, Fonda and K. Hepburn, now approaching their twilight, and by one of the last great versatile actresses, Jane Fonda, Henry's own daughter, who engages in a series of touching scenes with her father. It's impossible not to stop and think that the father will die shortly afterward, and it will be Jane who will collect his Oscar.