Sunset Story

A "Free Mumia" sign might seem like an odd sight at a retirement home, but it's perfectly apropos for Sunset Hall, a Los Angeles-based facility that attracts retired political progressives and artistic types. Filmmaker Laura Gabbert's Sunset Story serves up an honest and unflinching portrait of life's endgame--a time of failing health, ranging from decreased mobility to full-blown Alzheimer's--focusing on the moving relationship between two Sunset residents, 81-year-old Irja (a retired teacher mostly confined to a wheelchair after a debilitating heart attack) and 95-year-old Lucille (a former social worker who gets around with the help of a multi-pronged walker/cane). In a case of the lame leading the lame, Lucille pushes Irja in her wheelchair (the refrain "are we connected?" occurs throughout the film whenever this slow but unquestionably effective human train prepares to move). A decidedly odd couple--Lucille is a caustic, dry-humored, non-practicing Jewish realist; Irja is a bighearted, demonstration-attending idealist--the women nevertheless find common ground in grousing about the food, getting their nails done, and making five-cent bets on various happenings in the news. Combining fly-on-the-wall shots of life at Sunset Hall (in one wonderful scene, the camera pans the rec room bookshelves, which are lined with the large-print works of Lenin) together with footage of Irja and Lucille (tracking the heartbreaking decline of Lucille as she gradually succumbs to esophageal cancer), Sunset Story is an insightful, emotional, and often laugh-out-loud portrait of aging. DVD extras include filmmakers and producers commentaries, a half-hour-plus of deleted scenes, a pair of short interviews with Sunset Hall staff, and a film festival Q&A session. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (R. Pitman)