Lucien (Nand Buyl) is in his eighties and is a very idiosyncratic and cranky man. After getting on the nerves of his daughter Gerta, he decides to move out of her house and back into his own place. His wife died of cancer many years ago, and he still hasn't gotten over the loss. The only bright spot in his life is his granddaughter Julia who surprises him by revealing that she is off to Paris to continue her studies. Back in his own home, Lucien depends on Mathilde (Viviane De Muynck), the wife of his best friend, to keep the place tidy and for an occasional roll in the hay.
Despite his membership in a club for seniors and his habit of writing angry letters to a local newspaper, Lucien is lonely with just too many hours in the day to fill. His daughter wants him to enter a local home for the elderly but he gets a new lease on life when he becomes friends with his neighbor Syliva (Marijke Pinoy), whose husband has been institutionalized with Alzheimer's. She teaches him the essentials of shopping and cooking and soon he can even make a pretty good omlette. Sylvia is fighting her own demons and relies on Lucien's kindness to carry her through a rough patch.
Hats off to writer and director Geoffrey Enthoven who has made a fine film on a stubborn old man full of flaws but possessed with an indomitable will to carry on as best he can in the face of physical challenges. There are many unlikable sides to Lucien but he is open to change and when it comes, thanks to the presence of Sylvia, he seizes the moment and is spiritually transformed.
Screened at the New Directors/New Films Festival, New York, 2005
