Cloud 9

As regards its subject, Cloud 9 falls under a category of its own. Director Andreas Dresen decided to focus on the love- and sex life of the elder people, still very much a taboo subject. When he was young, he believed that at the age of forty one is done with all that, but now, aged forty plus, he realised that the fully developed, mature life is only just beginning. The actors also need to be given credit for their daring performance.

The lead actress Ursula Werner, whose character is torn between her husband and her lover, talked to the enchanted spectators after the screening about the shooting and the reactions of the German audiences. What’s interesting is that they worked without a script and did a lot of improvisation. The director was annoyed by the erroneous representations of love during old age, promoted by some films, and set himself the goal to show real, true love between the seniors. Ursula Werner added that contrary to the crew’s expectations, the German critics responded favourably to the film, even with rave reviews. Regardless of their age, the German audiences were enthralled by the film, among which mostly older women would embrace Werner after the screening, thanking her and explaining that they weren’t afraid of growing old any more.

The film delighted also the Ljubljana audiences, who were leaving the theatres astounded but with a smile on their faces.

                                                                                        Barbara Spreiz