A college professor Max, is at the center of this film which is based on three short stories by Nobel winner Isaac Bashevis Singer. It is a tender account of a man, who even at the end of his life, is the center of attraction for some women in his life.
We follow Max Kohn as he is going to give a lecture at a college. Max is old fashioned, loving to travel by train. His live-in girlfriend, Reisel, is protective of him. Max observes a young woman traveling in his compartment, although they never speaks, she is mysteriously involved in a subsequent meeting with a woman in Florida. The train brings back memories of a time gone by. Max meets one of the women in his life, Rosalie. They had quarreled about Kafka, something she brings up again.
Max elicits something in women like no other men in his age bracket. The next story shows him arriving to his next destination and because of a confusion, he ends up in a cheap hotel, where the manager, a Sikh man, is rude to Max. His encounter with a hotel maid is not to be believed, for this older man can drive women nuts.
The final segment shows a different character, Harry Bendinger, an old Jewish man now retired in Florida. His next door neighbor, Ethel, invites him to come over her apartment. In the course of their conversation, Ethel mentions her daughter, who happens to be the young woman we saw on the train. Harry having gone through an operation for prostrate cancer is at a loss, but as a nurse reminds him, there are other ways to please a lady.
Jan Schutte directed the film which he also adapted from three short stories by Bashevis Singer. The films shows fluidity in the first two segments, but takes a radical change in the last tale. The film is not exactly about love, but the perception of it. Otto Tausig, the Viennese actor, is basically the main reason for watching the film. The actor makes us believe he is no one but Max, and Harry.
The ladies in this man's life are played by Rhea Pearlman, who is Reisel, the protective New York girlfriend. Then there is Barbara Hershey, all passion about the way she had quarreled with Max over literary viewpoints. Elizabeth Pena is sensual as the maid, Esperanza. Tovah Feldush is wonderful with her Ethel. Olivia Thirlby is also seen as the daughter of Ethel.
We follow Max Kohn as he is going to give a lecture at a college. Max is old fashioned, loving to travel by train. His live-in girlfriend, Reisel, is protective of him. Max observes a young woman traveling in his compartment, although they never speaks, she is mysteriously involved in a subsequent meeting with a woman in Florida. The train brings back memories of a time gone by. Max meets one of the women in his life, Rosalie. They had quarreled about Kafka, something she brings up again.
Max elicits something in women like no other men in his age bracket. The next story shows him arriving to his next destination and because of a confusion, he ends up in a cheap hotel, where the manager, a Sikh man, is rude to Max. His encounter with a hotel maid is not to be believed, for this older man can drive women nuts.
The final segment shows a different character, Harry Bendinger, an old Jewish man now retired in Florida. His next door neighbor, Ethel, invites him to come over her apartment. In the course of their conversation, Ethel mentions her daughter, who happens to be the young woman we saw on the train. Harry having gone through an operation for prostrate cancer is at a loss, but as a nurse reminds him, there are other ways to please a lady.
Jan Schutte directed the film which he also adapted from three short stories by Bashevis Singer. The films shows fluidity in the first two segments, but takes a radical change in the last tale. The film is not exactly about love, but the perception of it. Otto Tausig, the Viennese actor, is basically the main reason for watching the film. The actor makes us believe he is no one but Max, and Harry.
The ladies in this man's life are played by Rhea Pearlman, who is Reisel, the protective New York girlfriend. Then there is Barbara Hershey, all passion about the way she had quarreled with Max over literary viewpoints. Elizabeth Pena is sensual as the maid, Esperanza. Tovah Feldush is wonderful with her Ethel. Olivia Thirlby is also seen as the daughter of Ethel.