Armand About memories. As sap of life. As axis of rules. As gun in a huge war for who is not end.A winter leaf. Not more that. An very old poem about meetings and words and flakes of past and strange ladders. A movie about Shoah, but, more that. Definition of cages of time and the languages of interior clocks. A good film but the final taste is so profound than the film is a form of "memento mori", picture of reality or a sea of silence in an autumn morning.A great casting is answer for all. But it is not an answer but a beginning. For the touches and words, for the force of a woman who must protect the shadows of every past, every present, for the science of Max von Sydow to makes bricks in Bergman style in every interpretation, for the art of Susan Sarandon. Astory. About the existences as icebergs.

ladywarrior0505 I liked this movie a lot, however, as in some previous remarks, I feel that they all came up short on where they wanted to go. I agree that more of the past should have been developed, and tied to the characters in the present. For me, it was a bit confusing that it seemed like such a modern time, and I just didn't believe that they had survived the Holocaust. I felt they should have shown more hauntings from the past, and perhaps a bit more clinging to each other, after having survived in the emotional shipwreck of Drancy. I think, perhaps more of their message could have been brought out if they had just spent more time in the scenes from the past. After seeing this movie, I did some research on Drancy and was shocked to learn it was the French, with the approval of the Nazi's, who did this. There should have been more history lessons, I feel, so we could see the larger picture. Anyway, I loved Max von Sydow's portrayal of Jakob, and I liked Susan Sarandon's suffering, but I just felt it seemed to be disconnected from what happened in the past. I was expecting a multi hankie movie, and only shed an occasional tear. All the actors are really good, and this is well worth the money to rent or own, and to open discussions about the atrocities of WWII and the Nazi regime.

TarHeel78 With the all of the big names in this film I was expecting a real experience. I could not have been more wrong. I wanted to take the DVD out after 10 minutes but my 18 year old son said we should give it a chance. We watched through to the end because none of us could summon enough energy to stand up and walk to the TV. Not only was the pace too slow for words but the acting (except for Max von Sydow) was excruciatingly bad. The flashbacks did not do enough to show the supposed life long ties between the characters. It was like watching six characters with no relationship to each other wandering around the set gnashing their teeth and wringing their hands. The symbolism was so in-your- face that it might as well have had flashing captions saying "pay attention to this-it is symbolic!" A most disappointing movie. At least the scenery was nice to watch.

Gordon-11 This film is about three Nazi death camp survivors reuniting 35 years later, arousing deep emotions and provoking old wounds.I had high hopes for "Emotional Arithmetic". The cast is completely stellar and Oscar worthy. Their performances are all excellent, but unfortunately the plot is not enough to make the a masterpiece. The topic has so much potential to make it a tear jerker, but "Emotional Arithmetic" fails to be captivating. The past is poorly explained, and the present is inadequately described. I think every subplot is not developed to enough detail to evoke inner emotions in the viewers' hearts. The only memorable scene is when Melanie gets shattered by Jakob's reaction when she hands him a gift at the dinner table.I feel disappointed by "Emotional Arithmetic". It has so much potential to grab and move viewers, but it turns out to be a rather unsatisfying bore.