In a youth-saturated medium such as cinema, every feature that dares to buck market trends and address elderly-hood and end-of-life issues among seniors should be commended—aye, even star-laden Hollywood “codger dramas” such as On Golden Pond and Rocket Gibraltar. The non-formulaic and practically freeform German entry Frau Stern is another example, and filmmaker Anatol Schuster smartly cast an unknown, first-time actress, Ahuva Sommerfeld, as his wizened heroine.
As for hitching the loose plot to a timeworn "shock" story gimmick, well, that is a little more problematic. In Berlin, Frau Stern is a 90-year-old Holocaust survivor who saw all her close family murdered and, with no religious belief, considers her late husband the great, irreplaceable love of her life. With no associates her age, she dotes on her adult granddaughter, maintains a flirty friendship with a studly hairdresser (also her marijuana supplier), and leads an active social life, attending cabaret and performance-art presentations.
Yet, she declares no will to live. “I want to die,” are her first words onscreen. Despite a smoking habit, she is diagnosed as medically robust—and her German doctor wants nothing to do with arranging euthanasia for a healthy old Jew. Frau Stern attempts suicide half-heartedly but claims she wants a gun to do a proper job. Thanks to an odd young couple moving into an adjacent apartment, Frau Stern (who is not above recreational shoplifting) indeed finds a gun. Yet, having the weapon seems to put her suicide plans on hold. It's almost as if the ability to kill herself at any point is the freedom she wants (debate that one with your NRA friends)...Or is it just because the filmmakers dare not take that final, depressing step?
While suicide tragicomedies (one was even titled Suicide: The Comedy) are mainstays in the realm of look-at-me-I'm-indie! cinema, few come close to the best black farce in this territory, 1971's . Here, the viewer has a heroine who could be called a combination of Harold AND Maude. Actress Sommerfeld—actually 81 at the time, and who, ironically, died soon after this film's release—holds the camera like the rarity she is, but eventually the script's rambling one-thing-after-another structure leaves one unsure if, when, or how this protagonist reaches her catharsis and regains a zest for living (or at least the low-key, tight-lipped Teutonic equivalent).
Where Frau Stern succeeds is presenting a formidably seasoned gal past caring what conventional society thinks or does; the narrative dilemma of whether she will pull that trigger feels a little forced and unnecessary. A strong optional purchase for foreign shelves, especially those catering to German-language patrons.