Emotional Arithmetic

A group of survivors from a French based concentration camp in WWII gather for a weekend at a country home in Quebec, more than 30 years after the war.

Most critics either praised this to the skies, calling it as powerful as Bergman. or they damned it for being slow, too familiar, sappy and not special. I lean more towards the positive.

First of all this is a wonderful bunch of older actors (Max Von Sydow, Susan Sarandon, Gabriel Byrne, Christopher Plummer) and, as one would expect, they each bring a lot to their roles.

It is also beautifully photographed.

If not quite Bergman, I do buy it as 'Bergman-lite'; the same sense of the confusing complexities of the human heart, and the way earlier damage always comes back to haunt us. Yes it has a few over-the-top moments, and it ultimately didn't pack quite the punch I expected, but I was never bored, despite the deliberate pace, and found each of these lost souls quite compelling.

AUTUMN HEARTS: A NEW BEGINNING is another one of those independent films that lacks an audience until the DVD is released. Granted it is not based on subject matter that titillates the big movie house throngs, but it is a warmly tender film about the emotional effects of historical traumas and how each of our histories molds our lives. It is a superb work on every level. Director Paolo Barzman brings to life the novel 'Emotional Arithmetic' by Matt Cohen (as adapted for the screen by Jefferson Lewis) with a sterling cast of consummate actors. The impact is lasting.

Melanie Winters (Susan Sarandon) lives on a picturesque farm in Canada with her retired university professor husband David (Christopher Plummer) and their grown son Benjamin (Roy Dupuis), an unexplained single father of his own son Timmy (Dakota Goyo) and caregiver for his physically ailing father and mentally fragile mother. Melanie lives in the past: as a child in 1942 she was interned in Drancy, an internment camp outside of Paris where she bonded with a young man Jakob Bronski and an Irish lad Christopher - taking on the responsibility of maintaining the written history of the camp at Jakob's request so that atrocities such as they were witnessing would never occur again ('Always remember'). At one point Jakob turned himself over to the Nazis to allow Melanie and Christopher to be released.

Now, years later, Melanie is still cataloging all of the atrocities in the world as they appear in the newspaper and continues to attempt to find Jakob. Jakob writes to her and soon is arriving in Canada as an elderly man (Max von Sydow), traveling with his surprise guest, the adult Christopher (Gabriel Byrne). It is this visit that reunites Melanie, Jakob, and Christopher that allows closure to their turbulent history and a healing not only for the three survivors but for Melanie's family also. It is as though it took a quiet time in the beauty of nature and the life-sustaining atmosphere of a farm to cleanse these 'autumn hearts' from the anguish of the past.

Not all of the elements of the story are resolved: we never learn much about Benjamin and his state of solo fatherhood, David's private life that so incenses Melanie, etc. But these are minor exclusions in this beautifully sculpted story and film. The cinematography by Luc Montpellier and the musical score by Normand Corbeil capture not only the beauty of the Canadian landscape and lush colors of the farm in autumn, but also heighten the authenticity of the Drancy camp experience in the black and white flashbacks. This is an exceptional film that deserves a wide audience. Grady Harp

This film is about three Nazi death camp survivors reuniting 35 years later, arousing deep emotions and provoking old wounds.

I had high hopes for "Emotional Arithmetic". The cast is completely stellar and Oscar worthy. Their performances are all excellent, but unfortunately the plot is not enough to make the a masterpiece. The topic has so much potential to make it a tear jerker, but "Emotional Arithmetic" fails to be captivating. The past is poorly explained, and the present is inadequately described. I think every subplot is not developed to enough detail to evoke inner emotions in the viewers' hearts. The only memorable scene is when Melanie gets shattered by Jakob's reaction when she hands him a gift at the dinner table.

I feel disappointed by "Emotional Arithmetic". It has so much potential to grab and move viewers, but it turns out to be a rather unsatisfying bore.

This film was one of the absolute best acted, best directed and scripted of any I have yet watched.

The film is not a tear jerker, except for the both dumb of heart and mind. It is a powerful story, that has roots in the very fabric of human history and the struggle for meaning in life.

The existential struggles and scarred souls of three Nazi concentration camp survivors, meet after 35 years. Lessons are learned by all involved.

The perhaps greatest lesson, is the need for the young to understand the life and circumstances their parents faced. And, ironically the inability of time to seem anything except indifferent to human suffering and existence itself. The past and its sufferings need give way to time's indiffernce. Live and love in the present. That is the crux of this fine drama.

I do-not suggest this film for insensitive slobbery and obviously some here saw nothing in it. It is as if a great film was cast before them and all they saw was a boring pace and words and emotions they could never feel or associate themselves with.

I have given this film a NINE. That for me is almost an impossible thing to do, if you review my reviews.

Congratulations on a moving, intellectual and poignant cinema.

I liked this movie a lot, however, as in some previous remarks, I feel that they all came up short on where they wanted to go. I agree that more of the past should have been developed, and tied to the characters in the present. For me, it was a bit confusing that it seemed like such a modern time, and I just didn't believe that they had survived the Holocaust. I felt they should have shown more hauntings from the past, and perhaps a bit more clinging to each other, after having survived in the emotional shipwreck of Drancy. I think, perhaps more of their message could have been brought out if they had just spent more time in the scenes from the past. After seeing this movie, I did some research on Drancy and was shocked to learn it was the French, with the approval of the Nazi's, who did this. There should have been more history lessons, I feel, so we could see the larger picture. Anyway, I loved Max von Sydow's portrayal of Jakob, and I liked Susan Sarandon's suffering, but I just felt it seemed to be disconnected from what happened in the past. I was expecting a multi hankie movie, and only shed an occasional tear. All the actors are really good, and this is well worth the money to rent or own, and to open discussions about the atrocities of WWII and the Nazi regime.