Cannes. Cloud 9.

"A lot of it. Fairly explicitly, too. Which, in a culture that says only strapping youth and firm skin can and should be contemplated, makes Cloud 9 something of a rebel yell."

"The 30-year itch proves to be pretty much like the seven-year version in German director Andreas Dresen's Cloud 9, a cautionary tale about infidelity that suggests the temptations and pleasures are the same but so may be the consequences," writes Ray Bennett in the Hollywood Reporter.

"Wisely, pic doesn't spend any time leading up to or justifying the coup de foudre between Inge and Karl: crux of the story is her decision whether to go with a relationship that has revived her spirit or stay in one that is safe but predictable," writes Variety's Derek Elley. "Only the ending seems dramatically over-contrived compared with the downplayed material to that point."

"Andreas Dresen stays fairly close in approach to his other slice-of-German-life films such as Willenbrock and Sommer vorm Balkon (Summer in Berlin), though for once references to East Germany or the division of the country are completely absent," notes Boyd van Hoeij at european-films.net.

Reviews in German.

Un Certain Regard.

Update, 5/21: "The movie moves at [70-year-old] Werner's pace, but its eye for character is clear and its heart strong," writes Richard Corliss for Time.

Update, 5/27: "Can a love story for the geriatric set be as engaging as an affair romp about sexy young people? It certainly can," argues Kim Voynar in Cinematical.

Coverage of the coverage: Cannes 08.

Last year: Cannes @ 60. And Cannes 06.

Posted by dwhudson at May 18, 2008 10:05 AM