Directed by: Barbara Kulcsar
Written by: Petra Biondina Volpe
Starring: Esther Gemsch, Stefan Kurt, Ueli Jaggi, Martin Vischer, Isabelle Barth, and Gundi Ellert
Runtime: 88 minutes
‘Golden Years’ offers valuable insights, but during a recycled cinematic journey
“I’ll stick with you, Baby, for a thousand years. Nothing’s gonna touch you in these golden years.” – “Golden Years” (1975) by David Bowie
“Growing old isn’t for the weak.” – Michi (Gundi Ellert)
Today is a milestone for Peter (Stefan Kurt). He’s retiring from a suburban corporate job after 37 years of service, and our tall, youthful senior citizen and his equally spry wife, Alice (Esther Gemsch), will embark on their new journey: easing into their golden years. For Peter, sleeping in rests on his agenda, but soon into his day-jobless existence, he awakens with a case of health kick-itis, complete with a vegan diet and obsessive bike riding, much to Alice’s chagrin. She hoped Peter’s free schedule would bring them closer, as rekindling romance snuggles at the top of her wish list.
Well, these two ships passing within the same household embark on a lavish cruise – courtesy of their grown kids, Susanne (Isabelle Barth) and Julian (Martin Vischer) - but will their marriage of 42 years be left in a wake of opposing expectations?
In director Barbara Kulcsar’s “Golden Years”, she answers this Peter-Alice question during an 88-minute runtime, and long-time couples everywhere might relate to our hero and heroine’s on-screen circumstances. For certain, “Golden Years” offers a valuable trek of commiseration for movie audiences. Unfortunately, the film relies too heavily on the leads to carry the picture’s emotional weight, as the joyless, unimaginative script treads water and eventually sinks into bland domestic quarrels over vacuuming, weekday overdrinking, and a lifeless road trip, despite cinematographer Tobias Dengler’s gorgeous captures of the Mediterranean Sea, Marseille, and Switzerland’s countryside.
Traveling to IMDb, one will discover that “Golden Years” is labeled as a comedy. Now, humor is in the funny bone of the beholder, but this critic didn’t laugh once during this nearly 90-minute feature. Although Peter’s lazy attempt at a household chore and a campy intro scene did induce a couple of smiles from yours truly.
Peter and Alice are coping with a late-life crisis, and they spend most of their screen time complaining to one another or contemplating their uncertain future in silence. Kulcsar and screenwriter Petra Biondina Volpe could have balanced the gloomy tone with some well-placed comedic circumstances to deepen our engagement with these characters, but the film never does.
For instance, Peter’s cycling hobby is a perfect way to explore his vulnerability through sight gags, like, say, a random 8-year-old passing him on a straightaway or our retiree chasing down a just-out-of-reach ice cream truck. Instead, we witness Peter struggle on the bike, and at one point, he plops on a roadside bench while pondering his questionable fitness. Meanwhile, Alice is frustrated with the lack of intimacy in their relationship, and rather than parade a brawny group of local firemen to her immediate sightline via a conga line, she gloomily confides with a new friend, Michi (Gundi Ellert), about her troubles.
Sometimes, the film explores this couple’s issues with nuance and care, including Gemsch and Kurt addressing a clumsy sexual encounter with grace. However, the one-note story is built with a low ceiling, where we bump our heads on recycled melodrama and cliches despite open-doorway-distractions of an eccentric pair in an RV, a feminist commune, and a lovely stroll through warm, beautiful Marseille.
We’re also treated to snappy, happy tunes like “Sara perche ti amo” and “Oye Como Va”, so some joy appears in the cinematic itinerary. Still, the smooth ditties are muted by a sudden death, a grieving widower, Susanne whining about her miserable life, and a delightful cruise ship – the Costa Smeralda – but with absolutely no eccentric, oddball characters or experiences floating about.
Well, at least Julian is happy, but we also discover the promiscuous 20 or 30-something has slept with about 200 women. Are Kulcsar and Volpe stating that Julian’s dating lifestyle is the golden ticket to happiness? No, but – in a way - Peter and Alice can learn from their son about living in the moment. Happily ever after may still happen if they “stick with (each other) for a thousand years.” Will it? You’ll have to watch “Golden Years” to find out, or maybe stay home and dust off a David Bowie record instead.
Jeff’s ranking
2/4 stars
