Cloud 9

Colour, 35 mm
Germany, 2008, 98 min
Section: Open Eyes

Synopsis

Inge is on her way to return a pair of mended trousers to her customer, Karl, but the delivery ends in a sudden passionate embrace followed by sex. Inge lives with her husband Werner and so she initially avoids having a relationship with Karl, but mutual attraction (and not only sexual) gets the upper hand. Love blooms at every age – even in retirement, as the protagonists discover themselves. What Cloud 9 offers, however, is really a traditional love triangle. The film follows its protagonists in unflinching detail, during their sexual encounters and also their most painful moments, hiding nothing from the audience. The taboo topic of eroticism among older people – though perhaps shocking at first – receives an appropriate portrayal full of gawkiness and authenticity as well as sensitivity and humour. As is typical of Dresen, the performances are excellent and the film is a very real and important testament to the psychological and physical yearnings of the older generation.

About the director

Andreas Dresen (b. 1963, Gera, Germany) started out as an amateur and later worked in various professions in the East German studio DEFA. He studied at the Konrad Wolf Film Academy in Babelsberg. After making a number of shorts, television films and his feature film debut The Silent Land (Stilles Land, 1992), which was screened in competition at the Karlovy Vary IFF, he met with success at the Berlinale with his second feature film, the tragicomedy Night Shapes (Nachtgestalten, 1999). This was followed by Grill Point (Halbe Treppe, 2001), Willenbrock (2004) and Summer in Berlin (Sommer vorm Balkon, 2005). His bittersweet comedies are often about romantic relationships and normal lives in former East Germany. Cloud 9 was successfully screened at the Cannes Film Festival in the section Un Certain Regard; the jury from this section awarded the film a Coup de Coeur.