The Elderly (4 Stars)

This is the third film in the Stuttgart Nights Festival.

Sometimes I watch a film that I don't fully understand, but I like it anyway. The film begins with an old woman committing suicide by jumping out of the window of her fourth floor apartment. Her husband Manuel begins to act strangely. He says that his wife will return. Manuel's son insists on taking him to live with his family, even though Manuel says he would rather live alone.

The situation becomes more and more difficult. Manuel acts aggressively towards his daughter-in-law. Manuel also has a strange hobby. He takes a radio apart and sews a circuit board into his chest.

It's not just Manuel who's acting strangely. Other old people in the area are also behaving strangely, and they nod to one another in the street as if they all belong to one large club.

This is an ugly film. The only thing worse than seeing a fat man naked is seeing an old fat man naked. But the film's atmosphere makes it appealing, even if not every question is answered by the end of the film. The viewer is left to fill in the blanks.