S. Mayle I have to be honest, at first I wasn't looking forward to watching this documentary. I thought it would be depressing because of its subject. But it was quite the opposite. These ladies made me feel good about growing old. They're bodies may not be as willing as they once were but their minds sure as heck are. They are more full of life than some people I know who are in their 20's. They are opinionated, active, and hilarious. Former activists, and well current activists as well, living in a retirement home called Sunset Hall, which is a retirement home for the "free-thinking" elderly. These two women share a friendship, that didn't start until they both moved into the home within weeks of each other, the likes that some people will never ever have. This is a great heartwarming story about being old, but having a spirit that never ages. A lot can be learned from this movie. I really enjoyed it a lot more than I ever thought I would and I think you will to. Lucille and Irja are funny, intriguing, and simply beautiful, and so is this film.

bob the moo Formed in 1923, Sunset Hall in Los Angeles is a retirement home with a difference; all the residents are former political activists of one form of another and the residents are mostly quite active in local protests and still try to be active. We enter the home to meet Irja and Lucille, two elderly women who came to the home within two weeks of one another and hit it off pretty well. We look at their relationship over the years and the other residents in this most unusual retirement home.I'm not sure why these two ladies were selected but they were a good choice for subjects to show what Sunset Hall is all about and who the residents are and were. The film is not that well structured but it does well to let us get to know these two people reasonably well and to the point where we do like them and care about them. I'm not sure what the film's point or agenda was but to me the film was about having respect for the elderly – it is too easy to assume that they are used up and finished and to ignore them in order to ignore our own mentality but this shows us they are just people. Of course, pretty much any home can do this and I did used to volunteer in a local old people's home when I was younger, spend time with anyone and you learn things – regardless of age. So it is just as well that the film also had the hook of being set in an unusual home – whether or not the home is that good an idea or not (seemed to me that arguments were only ever seconds away!) the people there do seem happy with it.Irja and Lucille are both very warm people who is very easy to care for and you do get into their stories. The direction is unobtrusive but nothing fancy, mainly because it seemed happy to let the subjects speak for themselves. Overall this was a pretty good film for what it did well; show us real people and get involved in their lives to the point where we could learn something form them. The lack of structure is a bit of a problem since it doesn't appear to have a point to make but then Irja and Lucille make up for that by simply being themselves.

jonboy3000 I stood and applauded along with the packed crowd in the theater. This is by far one of the most touching, heart-felt, nuanced looks at aging, death, life, and the friends we leave behind I've ever seen. What starts off seeming like it's going to be a sort of tongue-in-cheek comedic view of an old folk's home for aging activists, becomes instead a personal story between two elderly friends as they deal with the pains - both emotional and physical - of growing old.And if that turns you off; if you have a picture in your mind that this is going to be a purely weepy, painfully arduous film about old people on the verge of death, you're wrong. There are moments of enlightened humor and brilliance that will make you guffaw out loud. There are inspirational moments that will make you leave the theater wanting to live a fuller life. There are deep moments that have you contemplating your own aging process, as well as your thoughts about what it might be like when you're 75, 85, 95. And yes, there are powerfully, potently sad moments that will have you bawling into your popcorn.It is, in a nutshell (an overly simplified nutshell), sort of a documentary version of "On Golden Pond", full of the same sweet sadness and auld lang syne (sp?), but with a documentary's ability to sweep aside typical heartstring-pulling cinematic manipulation. Yes, Sunset Story uses a score - a deeply emotional piano score - but it serves the story, enhancing the natural drama playing out on the screen without dictating what emotions you should be feeling at what time.This documentary should be seen, far and wide.

MPinkosh This unmissable documentary follows the lives of two elderly leftist women in the run down once-kinder section of Los Angeles, south of Wilshire near the heart of the old Downtown.Founded in 1923, Sunset Hall is a retirement/care home for elderly "free-thinking" people (i.e. old Communists, labor organizers and "lefties") but the setting is simply the prism thru which we follow two amazing ladies, Irja and Lucille. To tell more would be to deprive the viewer of an amazing and touching journey , but this is a heartfelt, clever, hard-edged yet tender piece of film making. Laura Gabbert directs with an unusually disciplined and unsentimental approach. The slow and careful revealing of the relationship between these two women is perfectly balanced and beautifully executed. Shot on video, the technique is such that I was immediately and completely engaged with the people and in their surroundings. I laughed out loud several times and sat weeping as well. A truly exceptional 75 minutes.