It’s not even five minutes into the infidelity drama Cloud 9 when two senior citizens get naked and go at it. Get used to it: There are plenty of senior moments here, with old people fornicating, performing oral sex, masturbating and doing things you usually don’t see Grandma and Grandpa doing on camera.
Make no mistake: You’re not looking at Brad and Angelina. These
people are wrinkly and sagging. Director Andreas Dresen doesn’t turn
away from his aged actors. At one point, a long, unbroken shot shows
his star checking out her naked body in a mirror. In fact, there are
many long, silent moments in Cloud 9, and they all add up to one
of the most honest representations of senior-citizen sex you’ll ever
see onscreen.
But none of it is exploitative in this moving film about
sixtysomething Inge (Ursula Werner) who’s having an affair with
76-year-old Karl (Horst Westphal). Complicating matters is Inge’s
30-year marriage to Werner (Horst Reberg), a likable guy who listens to
records of train engines for fun. They even have a healthy sex life,
going at it in the bathroom in one scene. But Inge, who mends clothes
out of their apartment, falls hard for Karl, who drops off his pants to
be sewed. “I long for him constantly,” she confides to her grown
daughter.
Still, Inge breaks off her relationship with Karl over the phone
while Werner plays with their grandchildren in the next room. But she’s
uncontrollably drawn to Karl and hooks up with him on a Sunday
afternoon while Werner is away visiting his adult son. Soon they’re
making out in his parked car like a couple of teenagers. Inge clearly
loves both men and is torn between them. “It just happened,” she
sighs.
But there are repercussions. And questions. Should we give in to our
impulses when we don’t have much time left, even if our decisions will
hurt others? Cloud 9 doesn’t have the answers. It doesn’t preach
either. “Perhaps I’m too old for this sort of thing,” says Inge. But
this stirring film repeatedly proves that you’re never too old.
This article appears in Nov 25 – Dec 1, 2009.