SUNSET STORY is a funny and intimate documentary drama that will make you think differently about growing old. Set against the backdrop of a retirement home for political progressives, the film goes inside the world of two women, Irja (81) and Lucille (95), whose feisty engagement with life draws them together inextricably.
Deep in the heart of central Los Angeles, in a neighborhood bustling with immigrant Latino and Korean families, lies a fascinating anomaly. A "retirement home for free-thinking elderly," founded in 1923, Sunset Hall integrates aging with progressive activism, giving residents the opportunity to engage daily with causes they hold dear. The library, overflowing with books and adorned with a bust of Lenin and a portrait of Paul Robeson, is the site of many a heated debate. Bingo, dismissed by one resident as "a ridiculous game," is categorically rejected.
Yet, as their bodies and minds deteriorate, the 25 Sunset Hall residents, aged 65 to 101, struggle to participate in these lively activities. In the midst of a lecture, discussion or meal, many will doze or stare off into space; others will insert non-sequiturs or belligerent remarks; still others remain in the common living room, glued to the television.
Irja Lloyd and Lucille Alpert, the most lucid characters at Sunset Hall, are different. Like their fellow residents, they wrestle daily with the obstacles of aging, however, their friendship, in their words, has "saved both of our lives." Having moved into Sunset Hall within weeks of one another, they formed an unbreakable bond. They are symbiotic--socially, intellectually and physically. To be assured of stimulating conversation and emotional sanity, the two sit together at every meal and every meeting. One cannot move about without the other. At 95, Lucille needs help in order to walk, so she braces herself against the back of 81-year-old Irja's wheelchair, and simultaneously propels Irja's chair forward.
We follow Irja and Lucille for a period of several months as, inseparable, they venture out for manicures, political protests and meals at their favorite deli. Meanwhile at Sunset Hall, they are among the few who speak up during political discussions and the only ones alert enough to care about the appalling menu offerings. In private, they air their frustrations about fellow residents and debate fitting observance of the upcoming Jewish holidays from disparate perspectives--as a Finnish Unitarian (Irja) and an assimilated Jew (Lucille). Then, when Lucille receives a terminal cancer diagnosis, Irja must confront the possibility of losing her lifeline.
Lucille and Irja explode familiar stereotypes of doddering "old ladies." Sharp-witted, up-to-date, and often provocative, the two are not afraid to weigh in with opinions on men, sex, gender roles, and social attitudes toward the elderly. They operate as a classic comic team, an odd couple, with Irja playing the "straight man," the eternal idealist and Lucille, the irreverent skeptic, cracking ironic dry jokes.
In a society in which the elderly are isolated and discarded as "unpleasant" reminders of the aging process, Irja and Lucille surprise us with their vitality and their quest for meaning and connection. SUNSET STORY allows us to laugh with, and at quirky elderly characters; it takes us into a world we never thought relevant and ends up hitting home with unexpected urgency and emotion.
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