Anfang 80 (Coming of Age)

When we think about falling in love, most of the times we relate it to youth. When we think about ‘happily ever after’ couples, we imagine an old couple walking hand in hand on the street. If we see such couples, we usually picture a long life they’ve shared together; through the good and bad; through happiness and pain; and through laughter and tear.

‘Coming of Age’ transforms this impression by portraying some of the most heartfelt feelings between people of age. It does this not by arousing a sense of pity towards the old; on the contrary, it enlightens some of our wrong perceptions about them.

Rosa, an eighty-year old woman, meets Bruno, after discovering about her terminal cancer. She is quite independent and unconventional as she refuses to undergo chemotherapy. Rosa is still alive yet her niece rents her apartment without her permission.

Bruno’s inspiration after he meets Rosa, his will to enjoy the taste of love in the last years of his life is astounding. He is quite levelheaded when he announces the news to his wife and his children. He doesn’t bother explaining much.

Together, they rent a new apartment; they go to IKEA for choosing furniture for their home; they make love; they dance; they even smoke pot. Careless of the world around them, they taste the beauty of love and caring beside each other.

Rosa is elegant. At the age of 80, she smiles and laughs from the bottom of her heart. Her firm character during the movie and the way she manipulates different situations with young people is admirable. To the young, the old are ‘invisible’ as she put it.  However she does not give in and insists on her visibility. She is not piteous; she’s admirable. Rosa, this daring woman slaps the young radiographer after she mindlessly ignored that Rosa was standing there, waiting for her instruction for quite a while.

The astounding play by Karl Merkatz who portrayed an old man’s desire to taste love and his efforts in taking care of his love, at the age when he himself needed to be taken care of, was remarkable. There was a perfect balance in the choice of the accompanying role by Christine Ostermayer.

Anfang 80 or Coming of age, a movie by Gerhard Ertl and Sabine Hiebler, was in the world competition in the 36th Montreal World Film Festival.  Karl Merkatz was chosen as the best actor in the festival on September 3rd. The movie also won the Public Award for the most popular movie of the festival.