This artful and poignant film is a perfect balance between the sadness of how impotent adults are when a child is ill and the laughter that leavens the sadness. Music of Ghuzu guitar group propels the actions forward. Sensitive camera work doesn't allow us to be more than very limited voyeurs into the workings of a SoHo sex club where our protagonist grandmother, played to perfection by Marianne Faithful, in a role that shows us how multi talented this former rock chick of 1970's fame as the muse for Mick Jagger is as a mature woman. She does what she is able to do for not only her sick grandson, but for her son who is unable to "fix" what a "good father" should be able to. Her moral dilemma is resolved in how she limits and defines just what a "good mother" should do for her children to protect them from life's foibles and cruelties. The Desert Film Society of Palm Springs, CA screened this film on Sat. Dec. 15, 2007 for our 300+ members who thought it one of the best films we have shown this year, along with The Man in the Chair.
Review of Irina Palm
