I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

"The Cakemaker" (2017 release from Israel; 104 min.) brings the story of Thomas, a cakemaker in Berlin whose Kredenz Cafe and Bakery is frequented by Oren, an Israeli guy often in Berlin on business. Even though Oren has a wife (Anat) and young son in Jerusalem, Thomas and Oren start an affair. We then go to "One Year Later", and apparently Thomas and Oren live together when Oren comes to Berlin. Then one day, after Oren leaves for Israel, he no longer returns Thomas' calls, and to his horror, Thomas finds out that Oren was killed in an accident. Wanting to find out more, Thomas decides to go to Jerusalem and contact Anat (without revealing to her who he is). At this point we're 15 min. into the movie, but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.Couple of comments: the movie is written and directed by Ofir Raul Grazier. I can't say that I am familiar with his prior work. But I do know this: "The Cakemaker" is one of the best movies I have seen this year. Given the plot-heavy nature of the movie (the key question being: will Thomas reveal to Anat who he really is or will he be found out about?), I am not going to say much more. Well-known and respected French-Israeli actress Sarah Adler is outstanding as the grieving widow. German actor Tim Kalkhof plays Thomas, and does fine. As it turns out, this is a bit of a foodie movie too, featuring German cakes and pastries (I'll have another slice of Black Forest Cake any day!). "The Cakemaker" premiered on the film festival circuit in the summer of 2017, and has won near-unanimous critical acclaim. Indeed, "The Cakemaker" is one of those rare movies that is certified 100% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. "The Cakemaker" opened at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati this weekend, and I couldn't wait to see it. The Friday early evening screening where I saw this at was attended okay, but just okay (about 15-20 people). If you have any interest in a top notch foreign movie with fully developed characters and with a touch of foodie stuff sprinkled in, I'd readily suggest you check out in the theater (if you get a chance), on VOD (more likely) or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion. For me, "The Cakemaker" is a WINNER all the way.

The film opens and closes on images of Thomas's poignant mix of solitude and passion. In the first he's kneading his dough - that's the activity in which he finds both his self-realization and his antidote to loneliness. At the end he rides his bike away from his Berlin bakery job. He's going home - as usual, he thinks - alone, but still warmed by the memory of his beloved Oren and Anat. But he's not alone. Anat has tracked him down. She glows with anticipation of their reconnecting. The last image - the clouded skies - signify their challenging but promising future. The film stops before we know if and how they will recover their love. We may guess as we prefer. Thomas doesn't lock the front door when he leaves that cafe then. Maybe it locks itself upon closing. Or his leaving it unlocked may signify his openness to Anat's return to his love. This film's metaphors work that naturally, like Anat's radiance at eating Thomas's cakes and bread - that's love at first bite. So too the sensuality of Thomas's baking, the comforting softness in his colour, fleshiness and overall nature. Here love is not romance but an openness to emotions and to life. This film abounds with scenes of such quiet suggestions, revelations, nuances in relationship. In the first scene the two men are already familiar with each other - Thomas remembers what pastry Oren doesn't like. Arriving in Jerusalem, Thomas's isolation is caught in one shot where he's shrunk to the lower right of the screen, passed by two gesticulating orthodox Jews. The framing and extras define him as alien. In the shower room at Oren's club Thomas looks at a handsome Jew, then down at his - we infer - uncut alternative. After stealing a smoke outside after her shabbes dinner, we see Anat boxed in the window frame luxuriating in the verboten last crumbs of his Black Forest Cake. She licks her plate. That frame evokes the religious restriction Moti imposes that she must transcend to find fulfilment with Thomas - as, too, her later discovery that her present lover was her husband's first. Wordlessly Thomas warms Anat's runaway son, then involves him in icing the cookies. As with Anat, Thomas slips into an easy bond with the boy, despite his uncle Moti's impediments. In scene after scene the import is in a glance, a gesture, hardly ever verbalized. Thomas (and we) never learn how Oren's mother twigged to his affair with her son. We just see her immediate warmth towards him, her generosity, and her tacit knowing. That understanding lies beyond Anat's brother Moti, whose initial disdain for "the German" takes cover under the formal strictures of the kosher. in his shares invitation. Moti makes an effort to accept Thomas - as in his shabbes invitation. But Oren's mother and son are instinctively drawn to Thomas - as is Anat. In their first sexual engagement Anat takes the initiative. Thomas's intention has only been to help her. The passion is unexpected. Perhaps the key to the film's conception of love lies in the scenes where Thomas asks Oren to describe his most recent love-making with Anat. Initially we might read the scenes as simply erotic. But the context gives them rather more depth and characterization. There is no jealousy, no bitterness. Rather Thomas's embrace of Oren is so complete that it can include the other objects of Oren's love, his wife and his son. When Thomas makes love to Anat later it is with the memory, gestures and emotion he recalls from Oren. Here is a film where love might conquer all. Hence all the divisions that are set up - German vs Jew, Berlin vs Jerusalem, bereaved Insider family vs embarrassing Outsider rival, gentile vs Jew, wife vs lover, heterosexual vs homosexual love, etc. Thomas's and Anat's love for Oren make their falling in love with each other seem entirely credible - however unconventional. How many lovers discover they have any such strong bond in common? Oren's mother loved him enough to accept his lover Thomas; so Anat apparently grows to, too. But that acceptance too takes faith. Maybe that's why Thomas's cafe is called Credence. You have to believe.

There are beautiful shots of Jerusalem, including the call to Shabbat, and Berlin. Indoor scenes are dressed simply but effectively. But ... Oren, who travels frequently to Berlin on business, tells his wife Anat he is having an affair and is leaving her. But as he moves out to a hotel, he is killed in a car accident. Soon after, a mysterious German (Thomas) shows up at Anat's Jerusalem café, becoming a regular customer while asking for a job. As Anat also juggles with 7-year-old son Itai, Thomas is hired as a dishwasher, but he manages to start baking, and the café soon becomes famous for it, even if it loses its kosher designation and some of its customers. As Anat seduces a willing Thomas in the kitchen, Hanna (who seems to be Oren's mother) invites Thomas to see "his room". Is there a degree of willful blindness going on? The most glaring illogical point is the "damming evidence" in unheard, unanswered calls on Oren's phone. Another is Thomas insisting on getting Anat to knead dough, when she could have been delegated easier tasks like cutting and chopping (she earlier teaches Thomas to core peppers for stuffing). And while scenes with Oren shows Thomas being straight-curious, does that really end in his willing participation in intimacy with Anat?

This movie creates a really gripping and innovative story that will cause goosebumps all over your body. The main plot is simple but still unique. The director takes us along into a foreign country where we feel as isolated as the lead character is. Getting this vibe across to audiences is such a hard thing to do. You really feel like you are there in Jerusalem, having this rough time and you feel empty, lost, sad and depressed. On the other hand, all the positive moments in that movie actually bring joy to yourself as well. The movie is in German, English and Hebrew, so it's extremely authentic in its core. You have to decide for yourself how you feel about the ending, because I thing that could have been done a little bit better, but again.... it transfers all these complex emotions to you and Tim Kalkhof can just express without any words needed, what pain is. A difficult topic, that you will most certainly remember.