The opening scene of “Cloud 9” is one of the most unique in memory.
A chunky seamstress in her 60s delivers a pair of pants to a 76-year-old customer and then quickly seduces him in a frank, full-frontal fashion that goes against all the romantic, youth-culture Hollywood notions of the past 70 years.
That seduction and its ultimate consequences are what this German film is all about, and the sheer audacity of the premise carries the film. Yes, it’s just another movie about the shattering effects of a love affair. But this time it’s a love affair between senior citizens who look unabashedly old.
The seamstress is Inge (German film veteran Ursula Werner in an achingly human performance). Like some schoolgirl in love, she has fallen for Werner (Horst Westphal) even though she knows little about him. Her husband of 30 years, Karl (Horst Rehberg), has no suspicions.
Initially it seems as if Inge has just had a far-fetched sexual fling with Werner since she refuses his attempts to communicate with her. But soon enough, she gives in and their relationship deepens.
The usual train wreck follows. Except, again, these aren’t young people. Karl isn’t being dumped by somebody he’s been with for five years; he’s being dumped by the woman he’s lived with most of his life. And for a man who, frankly, probably doesn’t have all that much life left.
Director Andreas Dresen wisely approaches all this in a head-on manner. The result is a film in which age matters not at all and yet still matters hugely, and in which love is still a dream come true and an absolute mess.
Whether we’re old or not, living on “Cloud 9” is always dangerous, but there may be little we can do to avoid it.
“CLOUD 9.”
Not rated. 1 hour, 38 minutes. Directed by Andreas Dresen; photography by Michael Hammon; starring Ursula Werner, Horst Rehberg, Horst Westphal and Steffi Kuhnert. In German with English subtitles. Opens today at Starz FilmCenter.
