Die Herbstzeitlosen

A little-old-lady film to warm the cockles of your heart. In a tiny, straight-laced, Swiss village, where everyone knows what everyone else is up to, where people peer out at their neighbors from behind the curtains, a widow opens a sexy-underwear shop and causes a stir. The village divides along 'partisan' lines, with the widow's girlfriends pitching in to help, versus the local politician and vicar who attempt to seize the moral high ground.

The ladies at the center of the story are played by several fine character-actresses and give sparkling performances. One of the charms of the story is that it doesn't have a bad guy; the meanest man in town merely has a bad temper and a cantankerous father to look after.

The English title, Late Bloomers, plays on a double meaning: the little old ladies are late bloomers in the sense of realizing their dreams in retirement age; and "bloomers" in the sense of ladies' underwear. The original title also plays on a double meaning: people on the last lap of life, and yet timelessly young.

While ostensibly a microscopic look at Swiss village life and mentality, what allows it to reach out and speak to a wider audience is that it is a parable about knee-jerk conservatism versus the irrepressible need for change. The Swiss dialect, while contributing enormously to the film's charm and believability, will also, regrettably, limit its reach. As with Bienvenue Chez les Ch'tis (France, 2008) aka Willkomen Bei Den Ch'tis, it will have to be suitably subtitled or dubbed in an appropriately rural dialect to attain the recognition it deserves. Hollywood would only over-produce it, I fear, and drain it of the village charm which is essential to its message.

Bettina Oberli's endearing and charming film will bring a smile to those who watch it. It's a cheeky tale charmingly told, assisted by that lilting Swiss-German dialect. Trub, a small village in the Emmmental Valley in Switzerland's Berne canton, is the backdrop to the story and the picturesque shots of its meadows and pastureland can only help add to the film's adorability.

Said to be one of the best films ever to come out of Switzerland, it will never achieve Hollywood greatness nor are any of its stars likely sex symbols. Nevertheless, "Die Herbstzeitlosen" is one of the reasons why we are grateful Seattle has such a large and international film festival. Gentle, funny, and the wonderful cinematography and superb acting will only reflect credit on the Alpine nation's film industry. "Die Herbstzeitlosen" is Switzerland's Official Submission to the Best Foreign Language Film Category of the 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008).

Four venerable ladies. The death of the husband of one of them and the eccentric idea of recent widow. The support of her friends, the embarassment of her son, pastor of community, the adversity of men from Emmental.

Good premises for a lovely story about new youth, tenacity, support, a lie who becomes more than truth and the courage to live a new youth, more impressive and authentic at a not very young age.

The acting is just superb.

Like the dialogues , confrontations and tenderness scenes .

The death, the arrogance, the politic, the relation children - parents, the sexy lingery are present in this honest film about a sort of bitter sweet manner to asume the life.

No doubts, a profound inspired comedy. And little more - a wise remind about the precious gifts of elders.

Months after the death of her husband Martha decides to die: She puts on her most festive dress and lies down on her bed, the photograph of her beloved on her chest. But alas, she wakes up the next day, in best health, but late for church. She decides to make a change and - encouraged by a friend - makes an old dream come true - her very own shop for lingerie. But Martha lives in a small village AND is the mother of the village priest ...

Originally this wonderful little gem was planned for Swiss television only, thank God some people realized what a shame that would have been and "Die Herbstzeitlosen" was brought to the cinema. The acting is great, and it would be difficult to imagine a better "Martha" than Stefanie Glaser - who by the way is even older than her film character and had never before played the lead in a feature film for the cinema. As far as I know there are talks about a remake for the US - what a surprise - but anyone who has the chance to see the original should take it. This is a film with a very heartwarming, uplifting story with enough humor and true characters to keep it from turning sugary.

please, please, just release it in the USA with sub-titles. i saw it in Germany when it opened, and while i couldn't understand the dialogue very well, it was enough to enjoy the film.......immensely.And there is so much intonation and color in the language it adds to the feeling and the artistic quality. This film is so good it should not get a Hollywood remake for a long time , if ever.

too bad the swiss and deutschers don't offer English subs for their homegrown produce. but in the long run that's their problem. at this point it has my vote for the best foreign film Oscar.

I would put this in the category of small films that really pack a punch. harold and maude, la strada, delicatessen, and a couple of the bill forsyth films come to mind. The picture of swiss small time life is priceless and , from my own several visits there, seems to be on the money.