The Cakemaker

"The Cakemaker" is a gentle, sad film about a young German man who becomes infatuated with his deceased male lover and travels to Israel to be close to the lover's widow and child. He gets a job at a cafe run by the widow and the two of them strike up an uneasy romance of sorts -- both of them use the other as a proxy for the man who's no longer in either of their lives. Within this complicated emotional scenario, the film explores themes of cultural and religious prejudice and intolerance -- the German man has to overcome animosity and assumptions made about him by some of the Israeli characters while the widow has to contend with a different sort of prejudice because she's not religious and isn't "kosher" enough for some.

It's a very quiet and thoughtful film, and I really enjoyed its gentle rhythms. It's very much about grief and the human instinct to find people and things to keep alive the memories of those we've lost.

Grade: A-