Review: Up for the ages. But sometimes you can’t keep a promise – News

Up for the Ages is a solid relationship drama, even if it doesn’t have an overt plot in the first half. Maria, a divorcee in her thirties, meets the seeming Sigmund, soon she is expecting a child with him (she already has two from a previous relationship) and all something lit in the sun. Immediately, the story jumps forward seven years, when the sun is already covered by heavy clouds. There are four children, Maria is upset, the musician Sigmund is always away.

Maria is unable to cope with the situation, and increasingly heated arguments at the end of her hysteria force Sigmund to divorce her. Maria begins to fight for the “forever” they promised each other, but her chances are slim. The usual domestic problems have crossed the tolerable limit, and when Sigmund responds to Maria’s threat “I will leave” with a laconic “then leave,” it seems that this relationship can no longer be saved.

So far, there is nothing new under the sun, but already in this first half, the film catches the eye, mainly because of the performance of Helga Gurenová in the role of Marie. However, it begins to gain its main strength when Sigmund does not come to couples therapy and Maria, who until now has put all the blame on his head, begins to look for reasons the problem itself under the guidance of the therapist.

This is no longer a typical relationship drama, but a deep psychoanalysis easily filmed, thanks to which it is not boring, but with a strong movement of emotions, it can inspire, especially in the female viewers, and maybe even self-questioning.

Yes, it is a film especially for a female audience, after all, Maria talks about her feelings only with women (apart from the therapist, also with friend, mother and teenage daughter), but this cannot be called a mistake, because it brings him closer to the truth.

We don’t learn much about Sigmund in the story, but we get to know his character and nature through Maria. And the author certainly does not force the audience to judge either of the couple, she is impartial, which emphasizes the complexity of the partnership.

Ingolfsdottir built a detailed situation, in which she could forgive herself only some rusty paper psychoanalytic lessons. And her direction really appeals to the audience who are already in the show and doesn’t let them go until the end.

The award-winning actress Helga Gurenová, who is thirty-eight years old, plays Maria with great passion and conviction in this. Her emotions will alternate just like many a woman knows, disappointment and fear of a falling apart relationship and loneliness in the future. From uncertain laughter to self-pity and then to situations where she is, in the words of her oldest daughter, “just uncertain”, you believe everything in her.

The actress is at her strongest in the moments when the film becomes a detailed exploration of Maria’s inner self. When she replays past situations in front of the therapist, but her perspective on them changes, she begins to understand her own role in the development or breakdown of the relationship, and herself -reflection occurs, the viewer feels the most for her.