Saturday, April 25, 2009

Wolke 9 (Cloud 9)


Not exactly what I was hoping for but when the drama starts it is truly amazing to see the transformation of the main character Inge played by Ursula Werner that goes from a nice 60ish peaceful and mischievous woman into a really tormented human being. Just for the transformation and excellent Werner’s performance the movie is more than worth watching.

This Andreas Dresen tells a story not often seen in movies as deals with romance between more than 60-years-old people and does it a very natural and frank way; so if you have never seen older people nudity be prepared as in this film you will in almost all the first half of the film. I mention this as we really are not use to see this type of nudity, much less performing sex and because I read many comments that mentioned nudity as the reason for not liking the film, which to me is ridiculous, but I understand that’s something that could happen to many.

The story is basically about a woman, Inge, that has a secure, routinely and emotionless marriage; after 30 years of being married to Werner she suddenly feels attracted to Karl and consummates her attraction. Unbearable guilt comes to Inge’s life and she ends up telling Werner about her affair. This is exactly when the story, Ursula Werner’s performance and the movie becomes very interesting to watch and if you endure what happens before you will be highly satisfied with the very realistic drama that follows.

Cinematography is quite raw in most of the interior takes and definitively contrasts with the beautiful outdoor takes; but also between the happy and the not so happy moments of the film, as the cinematographer and director use all available resources to increase viewers emotions when the drama pickups. Very seldom I see movies that use so wisely the few tech specs available –this is not a big budget production- to enhance viewers emotions and for this I do commend the director and cinematographer for their excellent work.

The movie premièred in 2008 Cannes at the Un Certain Regard section where won the Jury Coup de Coeur Award and if you browse the blog you will find the honors the film has collected since then. Special mention goes to the awards that Ursula Werner won for Best Actress, as she truly deserves them for her great performance.

Definitively not for all audiences as I believe viewers really need to open their mind to not often seen scenes, to older people romance and have to like at least European cinema. But, for some of my known readers I suggest to give a try to this film that definitively will give a happy glimpse into what could come when we all reach that age.

Last, the film is not what I hoped for because the story told before the drama exploded was a little slow and showed nothing special for me, as I believe is very similar to many other stories about women falling in love and being unfaithful.

Enjoy!!

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