Response

Abstract

One of the last taboos in the public representation of sexuality seems to be the sexuality of elderly people, notwithstanding considerable changes in their actual levels of sexual activity. Dresen's film Cloud 9 breaks this taboo telling the story of a passionate relationship between two people in their sixties/seventies. The protagonists' differing perceptions of how to live the time that remains to them, and how to acknowledge and realize their desires and the passion of their bodies marked by time and experience, shows the ethical issues implied in the story without providing easy answers. Viewers are left to struggle with these questions, not least because identification with the protagonists is disrupted at the same time as it is encouraged by the film.