Zeit der Zärtlichkeit (1983)

Zeit der Zärtlichkeit: Directed by James L. Brooks. With Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito. Follows hard-to-please Aurora looking for love, and her daughter’s family problems.

“Iu0026#39;ve heard many good things about James L. Brooksu0026#39;s u0026#39;Terms of Endearmentu0026#39; and finally I decided to give it ago. Honestly speaking I was expecting a typical melodramatic tearjerker thatu0026#39;s sole aim is to emotionally manipulate the viewer. I was wrong. u0026#39;Terms of Endearmentu0026#39; is a slice of life that centres around a mother, her daughter and their respective lives. The film looks very authentic. The sets, makeup, costumes and art direction look genuine.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis is very much a character driven film. The dialogues are full of humour and wit but whatu0026#39;s also striking is how deeply layered the words are. While the visuals are quite simplistic itu0026#39;s the characters that shine especially through the actorsu0026#39; natural performances. Their excellent non-verbal gestures, spot on line delivery and restrained performances are superb.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eA sassy Shirley Maclaine and bubbly Debra Winger are spellbinding. Both actresses beautifully carry the film and they are brilliantly supported by fine actors like Danny DeVito, Jack Nicholson, John Lithgow and Jeff Daniels.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhat particularly appealed to me about u0026#39;Terms of Endearmentu0026#39; is the depiction of the mother-daughter relationship and the dynamic of it. It definitely has its ups and downs and it does not involve the use of clichéd lines like u0026#39;I love youu0026#39; etc but at the same time the unconditional love between them is wonderfully conveyed.”