Sunset Story
Sunset Story
| 09 October 2003 (USA)
Sunset Story Trailers

The free-spirited denizens of Sunset Hall, a Los Angeles retirement home, haven't let advanced age stand in the way of their voicing their concerns about the social and political topics of the day. Documentary filmmaker Laura Gabbert focuses on two of the facility's more outspoken residents — irascible cynic Irja Lloyd and upbeat, wheelchair-bound Lucille Alpert — as they attend political rallies and discuss their often opposing viewpoints on hot-button issues.

Reviews
Luke Edmunds

This story has two lovely elderly ladies that lead great lives and are passionate about their beliefs, yet it is one of the most boring stories ever. If you want to know this story really just go to an old folks home and become friends with elderly people. There really isn't a story and it really isn't a movie. It's a weird reality show about 2 women. At one point they have a conversation in the car about the lunch they had that day... There are some sad times but that happens in life. If you really want to be completely moved by a touching story that will legitimately change your life, watch "About Time" with Rachel McAdams. This is all I have to say and I need to write 10 lines so I will keep going and I know they could deactivate my account or whatever for filling this with junk but I don't care because I don't want someone to sit down for movie night with some popcorn and friends and be completely disappointed in their choice.

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dvdgoofball

This enchanting and somewhat melancholy documentary chronicling the last stages of life for two elderly women named Irja(81) and Lucille (95 who have become best friends after being placed in a retirement home for aging left wing radicals. Though just as a backdrop, Sunset Hall (the retirement home) provides a unique stage to see how the last years of life for the two women is played out. Sometimes sad, other times so full of joy that you pause while watching considering your own mortality, and the dignity that our elders deserve. Such a stark and real look at our humanity in its last stages that for anyone I think this film is a must see. For me, the funniest portions were watching Irja's upbeat optimism constantly coming in contact with Lucille's dry, cynical eye. Hee larious! Check it out, it's worth watching.

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bob the moo

Formed in 1923, Sunset Hall in Los Angeles is a retirement home with a difference; all the residents are former political activists of one form of another and the residents are mostly quite active in local protests and still try to be active. We enter the home to meet Irja and Lucille, two elderly women who came to the home within two weeks of one another and hit it off pretty well. We look at their relationship over the years and the other residents in this most unusual retirement home.I'm not sure why these two ladies were selected but they were a good choice for subjects to show what Sunset Hall is all about and who the residents are and were. The film is not that well structured but it does well to let us get to know these two people reasonably well and to the point where we do like them and care about them. I'm not sure what the film's point or agenda was but to me the film was about having respect for the elderly – it is too easy to assume that they are used up and finished and to ignore them in order to ignore our own mentality but this shows us they are just people. Of course, pretty much any home can do this and I did used to volunteer in a local old people's home when I was younger, spend time with anyone and you learn things – regardless of age. So it is just as well that the film also had the hook of being set in an unusual home – whether or not the home is that good an idea or not (seemed to me that arguments were only ever seconds away!) the people there do seem happy with it.Irja and Lucille are both very warm people who is very easy to care for and you do get into their stories. The direction is unobtrusive but nothing fancy, mainly because it seemed happy to let the subjects speak for themselves. Overall this was a pretty good film for what it did well; show us real people and get involved in their lives to the point where we could learn something form them. The lack of structure is a bit of a problem since it doesn't appear to have a point to make but then Irja and Lucille make up for that by simply being themselves.

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jonboy3000

I stood and applauded along with the packed crowd in the theater. This is by far one of the most touching, heart-felt, nuanced looks at aging, death, life, and the friends we leave behind I've ever seen. What starts off seeming like it's going to be a sort of tongue-in-cheek comedic view of an old folk's home for aging activists, becomes instead a personal story between two elderly friends as they deal with the pains - both emotional and physical - of growing old.And if that turns you off; if you have a picture in your mind that this is going to be a purely weepy, painfully arduous film about old people on the verge of death, you're wrong. There are moments of enlightened humor and brilliance that will make you guffaw out loud. There are inspirational moments that will make you leave the theater wanting to live a fuller life. There are deep moments that have you contemplating your own aging process, as well as your thoughts about what it might be like when you're 75, 85, 95. And yes, there are powerfully, potently sad moments that will have you bawling into your popcorn.It is, in a nutshell (an overly simplified nutshell), sort of a documentary version of "On Golden Pond", full of the same sweet sadness and auld lang syne (sp?), but with a documentary's ability to sweep aside typical heartstring-pulling cinematic manipulation. Yes, Sunset Story uses a score - a deeply emotional piano score - but it serves the story, enhancing the natural drama playing out on the screen without dictating what emotions you should be feeling at what time.This documentary should be seen, far and wide.

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