Deep wounds are hard to heal, especially when one doesn't want to let them go. Emotional Arithmetic is a film about the tragedy of the Holocaust's aftermath and its impact on the lives of so many people, especially children.
When Melanie (Susan Sarandon) gets a letter that Jakob (Max von Sydow), the man who saved her life, is coming to visit, she is overcome by mixed feelings of joy and nervousness. Living on a quiet farm in Quebec with her husband (Christopher Plummer), son Benjamin (Roy Dupuis), and grandson Timmy (Dakota Goyo), Melanie has seemingly moved on from the terrors she experienced as a child in Drancy, the Parisian concentration camp during WWII.
Now, 40 years later, Melanie is compelled to confront the past when she invites Jakob, a survivor of Auschwitz, Soviet prison camps, and mental institutions to come live with her and her family. Marked by her tragic experiences, Melanie has been afflicted by regular bouts of depression and instability. In another twist, Jakob has brought along Christopher (Gabriel Byrne), her childhood companion during the dark years at Drancy.
Confronted by the bittersweet memories of their time together in Drancy, memories encapsulating the horrors of the Holocaust and the sweetness of friendship, the three characters try to deal with the past and perhaps find some reconciliation and comfort in the present.
Directed by Canadian director Paolo Barzman, Emotional Arithmetic is a quiet, atmospheric movie with sparse dialogue as the characters communicate repressed emotions through their eyes, gestures, and surroundings. Nature and seemingly mundane objects become symbolic carriers of the characters' emotions as the film attempts to delve into their consciousness.
The all-star cast is exquisite in their delicate, restrained portrayal. Susan Sarandon is charming and fragile as the emotionally unstable Melanie, while Max von Sydow plays the elderly Jakob with the dignity befitting the resilient survivor. Gabriel Byrne brings a sense of quiet longing to Christopher who after all these years is still in love with Melanie.
Emotional Arithmetic also stars Christopher Plummer as David, Melanie's cynical professor husband who tries to make terms with his wife's pain; and Roy Dupuis, who brings a quiet strength as Benjamin, Melanie and David's son, an unwilling casualty of his parents' frustrations and pain.
Emotional Arithmetic is yet another reminder of the terrible injustice of when the innocent are persecuted. At its essence, however, the film is about pain and scars that such tragedies leave on the human heart. Sometimes, the legacy of the tragedy is not much less painful than the tragedy itself.
Emotional Arithmetic is the Closing Night Gala Presentation at the Toronto International Film Festival. It will screen on Saturday, Sept. 15, at the Visa Screening Room (Elgin Theatre) at 6:30 pm and at Roy Thomson Hall at 8 pm.
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