Review of Last Love (2014) by Mats V — 12 Jan 2014

I have to say that I was surprised by the low ratings on RT from the critics for this German, Belgium, United States and French co-production... this was a slow paced family drama based on Francoise Dorner's French novel La Douceur Assassine, written and excellently directed by the German director Sandra Nettelbeck and starring masterful Michael Caine and emerging world acting star Clémence Poésy.

This poignant drama centres on a retired, widowed professor (Caine) living in Paris who develops a special relationship with a younger French woman (Poésy) after the loss of his wife. Exploring loss, friendship, family and true love - its tempo is typically European and I think that a lot of viewers used to today's Hollywood productions would find it too slow. It reminds me on the difference of the fast-food and a slow food movement - this is an art work to be enjoyed and savoured bit by bit. At the end we are rewarded by beautiful feeling and performances that are going to touch your heart.

The first part of the movie is very well developed, extremely observant and neatly devoid of clichés, while enriched by the gentle hopeful theme from composer Hans Zimmer. The second part was a little bit rushed through and almost felt like a separate story, but with the performances we witnessed everything was possible - even to reconcile these two parts as a whole.

If you are a fan of Michael Caine, Clemence Poesy, Jane Alexander and Anne Alvaro - don't miss this one...