Louise by the Shore

Louise, an old French widow, is thrown on her own resources in a Northern French seaside town deserted during the winter. While limited by her failing powers, she succeeds in creating a satisfying life for herself a la Robinson Crusoe. Memories of her childhood during WWII occasionally break into her solitary explorations of the beach and beach village where she is marooned by herself. The animation is perfectly attuned to the calm flavor of her personal subjectivity, which is the focus of the movie. In its own quiet way, this film is far more true to the realities of female old age than any of the terribly patronizing and hokey "old people" movies thrown off by Hollywood from time to time. (See, e.g., The Whales of August.) Warning: For those who need constant action in what they watch, this is a very slow movie and its slowness is perfectly, and successfully, attuned to the subject the creator has chosen.