"Sunset Story"

If you haven't yet, see "Sunset Story" if you can. It's a lovely documentary about two friends who live in Sunset Hall, a retirement community for "freethinkers" in Los Angeles. The home is about 80 years old (the same age as one of the women featured in the film). I first heard about it when I was talking to a friend a while back about our need to plan for our own later years. We both talked about our fear of being surrounded by political conservatives at the end of our lives. "OH!" she said. "You need to find out about Sunset Hall in L.A.! It's great! We need something like that!"

The film is about a friendship between two women residents of Sunset Hall, Lucille and Irja. Smart, strong and dear, they will steal your heart. Their long careers as political activists didn't end when they moved to Sunset Hall. There are wonderful scenes of them at demonstrations.

I saw "Sunset Story" with a friend who is 75. She is staunchly anti-residential-care (for herself; she worked in hospice settings for many years) and said after we left the theater, "I'm going home to crochet myself a noose. If I found myself in that place I'd throw myself over the balcony into the coi pond." She really liked the film, though.

Here's the NYT review of the film. According to the article a shorter version of Sunset Story will air on PBS next month. Watch it if you can. You'll be glad you did.