Part of Science On Screen® 2026
Rock Hudson is a revelation in this sinister, science-fiction-inflected dispatch from the fractured 1960s. SECONDS, directed by John Frankenheimer, concerns a middle-aged banker who, dissatisfied with his suburban existence, elects to undergo a strange and elaborate procedure that will grant him a new life. Starting over in America, however, is not as easy as it sounds. This paranoiac symphony of canted camera angles (courtesy of famed cinematographer James Wong Howe), fragmented editing and layered sound design is a remarkably risk-taking Hollywood film that ranks high on the list of its legendary director’s achievements. (Synopsis courtesy of the Criterion Collection)
“SECONDS will linger a lot longer than the title suggests in the mind of anyone who chooses to watch it. In fact, it might be one of the most haunting American films to come out of the 1960s, or any decade for that matter…. SECONDS was booed at the Cannes Film Festival for all the wrong reasons—for being way ahead of its time. And while it had a premature death on its initial release, in an ironic twist of fate, SECONDS found poetic justice. Like its main character, it is reliving a second life.” —Wael Khairy, rogerebert.com “Considering the year the film was released, 1966, before the sexual revolution reached full flower, Frankenheimer had a strong feeling for the divide that was about to grip the country, separating liberated youths from their square, conservative parents.” —Scott Tobias, The Dissolve
Topic: Stretching Our Seconds: Fantasies and Realities from the Biology of Aging
Presentation: Life is short, as we often say. But from humanity’s earliest days, we have imagined ways to stretch it longer. Today, the science of aging is real, and research is revealing how we might be able to influence the biological aging process. Following John Frankenheimer’s SECONDS, where middle-aged Arthur Hamilton is reborn as a younger man, this talk will separate the science from the science fiction through discussion of our fundamental understanding of how and why animals age, and what modern biology is revealing about our ability to modify that process.
Speaker: Dr. Kristopher Burkewitz, Assistant Professor of Cell and Developmental Biology at Vanderbilt University
About the speaker: Dr. Burkewitz has studied the biology of the aging process from multiple angles throughout his training and career, ranging from telomere biology (B.S., University of Miami) and environmental stress responses (Ph.D., Vanderbilt University) to the effects of nutrient signals and dietary interventions on lifespan (Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health). His current research continues to focus on the molecular genetics of aging, and specifically on how the inner architectures of cells can determine susceptibility to age-related dysfunction or disease. Apart from his research, he’s mostly found getting his second helping of childhood through his two young kids.
