The Cakemaker | Telescope Film
The Cakemaker

The Cakemaker (האופה מברלין)

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Thomas, a young German baker, is having an affair with Oren, an Israeli married man. One fateful day, Oren dies in a car crash in Israel. Lost and utterly shocked, Thomas travels to Jerusalem in search of answers. Under a fabricated identity, Thomas bonds with Anat, Oren's newly widowed wife who owns a bakery in town.

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What are critics saying?

88

RogerEbert.com by Godfrey Cheshire

Watching it, the film’s intelligent, well-crafted story and beautifully drawn characters seem to suggest literary roots.

80

Los Angeles Times by Kenneth Turan

Culturally specific to its joint Berlin/Jerusalem setting but with themes that are universal, it joins an exploration of sexual fluidity and the nature of love and relationships with a strong plot that keeps you involved and guessing until the very end.

80

Village Voice by Jordan Hoffman

The Cakemaker is more of a petit four than a belly bomb, but it’s striking in its particularity.

80

The New York Times by Jeannette Catsoulis

Sad and sweet, and with a rare lyricism, The Cakemaker believes in a love that neither nationality, sexual orientation nor religious belief can deter.

80

Variety by Guy Lodge

Tracing with exemplary sensitivity the unlikely bond formed between a gay German baker and the Jerusalem-based widow of the man they both loved, Graizer’s film works a complex range of social and religious tensions into its heartsore narrative, without ever feeling sanctimonious or button-pushing.

80

Screen International by Sarah Ward

Though the script rarely makes an unexpected choice, it’s the way that the film dissects its many underlying complications that matters more than eschewing predictability. Calmly, but filled with feeling, Graizer lets his protagonists’ actions and choices subvert the norm.

80

Screen Daily by Sarah Ward

Though the script rarely makes an unexpected choice, it’s the way that the film dissects its many underlying complications that matters more than eschewing predictability. Calmly, but filled with feeling, Graizer lets his protagonists’ actions and choices subvert the norm.

75

San Francisco Chronicle by Walter Addiego

Graizer takes his time and never feels the need to spell everything out, and The Cakemaker is a testament to what filmmakers can achieve when they trust the audience.

75

Slant Magazine

The film binds its narrative to fascinating explorations of national identity, sexuality, and, of course, food.

75

Slant Magazine by Pat Brown

The film binds its narrative to fascinating explorations of national identity, sexuality, and, of course, food.

40

The Hollywood Reporter by Boyd van Hoeij

Graizer too often seems afraid to potentially offend anyone (but especially straight audiences along for the ride) and too polite to explore the darker recesses of grief, desire and sexuality.