A quietly beautiful film about having the courage to follow one's bliss.

Oren (Roy Miller),an Israeli who makes monthly business trips to Berlin, tells the counter man at his favorite bakery (Tim Kalkhof, playing Thomas) that Kredenz ("Cupboard") is the first place he visits every time he makes a trip to the city.

From there a hushed series of visits follows, during which the married Israeli and his baker lover enjoy a relationship that builds toward love. From the start, it seems that Thomas is the more vulnerable, seeking sustained connection. Oren is more elusive, saying he'd never abandon his wife, Anat (Sarah Adler).

This film is exceptionally well-cast, with excellent performances throughout. Kalkhof in particular impresses; a sensitive intelligence shines through his every scene as he conveys depth of feeling and thought. An unmade-up Ms. Adler also turns in an exceptional portrayal as she evolves from a harried working mother in mourning into a woman who wants soulfully to connect.

I found the bravery in this film to be inspiring. How incredible that Oren, after sharing his enthusiasm for Kredenz's Black Forest Cake, asks Thomas -- "a real Berliner" -- to help him find a gift for his son! And how powerful to witness Thomas follow his own yearnings to Jerusalem, where he orders breakfast at Anat's coffee shop, and, showing his own chutzpah, asks for a job. Female viewers may feel the greatest bravery is shown by Anat when she initiates affection with seeming workaholic Thomas, in a truly stunning sequence.

Along the way we see some of the beauty, as well as discomfiting aspects, of life in the Israeli capital, from winsome street scenes to the mistrust that may exist of people from the country that promulgated the Holocaust. Along the way we also learn about some Israeli foods, including bourekas (I've already printed out a recipe to try!)..

This is a very poignant film that handles the seemingly rarely examined realm of bisexuality.

My only quibble is with the movie's ambiguity toward its conclusion. It's unclear why Anat loses the important kashruth certification at her cafe. And there is murkiness surrounding the crumbled lists of cake ingredients that Anat examines at least twice -- why?

It's not entirely surprising to witness Anat in Berlin -- I haven't seen that towering golden angel statue since "Wings of Desire" -- in the movie's final frame. One imagines that her supportive mother-in-law is watching over her son. And one wishes this doughty woman well!

"The Cakemaker" is a new Israeli/German co-production. Well, "new" is relative here as the film premiered in 2017 already, but took a really long time to make it to Germany, which is especially as it is like I said a German co-production even with the film taking place in Germany at the very beginning and end. Writer and director of these 110 minutes is Ofir Raul Graizer and after several short films and also editing efforts on other projects, this is his very first work as the man in charge. Judging from the quality here and the fact that he is still under 40, we sure can be curious about what he has in stores for us in the next years, if not decades. The film starts right away with crucial plot points as we find out about the gay romance between a baker and a businessman here in Germany, who keep meeting in Berlin once a month when the latter is there on business and they are having an affair despite the businessman being married with a child. Tragedy happens quickly afterward and the one character you probably did not expect to vanish from the film does, so the rest of the movie it is all about the title character although the female protagonist plays a role at least as big, maybe even bigger as it goes on. Also the action moves to Israel. Well, the filmmaker did everythign right I would say. It is a pretty touching film emotionally and the casting decisions all fit very well. The main character is not talkative at all, but the actor does a whole lot non-verbally, especially in the scenes when he finds out about his lover's death or when he hears that the man was about to leave his family for him.

Sarah Adler who I liked a lot here had the difficult task to portray a woman (no longer) grieving for her man, who has to run a business and falls in love again. A pretty challenging character for sure, but she fills the role really fine and also has amazing screen presence and I don't think that is just my opinion as a hetero male. Here and there the film also offers opportunities to put a smile on your lips. I am for example talking about the kosher oven references. But yeah, it's really not many. There was only one scene I found fairly weak, namely when the main character decorates the cookies with the female main character's son. And the music that goes along with it as if it was some really special scene. it did not feel like that for me. Near the end, you could argue if it was the right choice to use the solution that she finds out all about what was going on and who the cakemaker really is. I think letting her in the unknown, maybe even with him as a couple then could have made for an okay closure too, but the path they took was not shabby at all either. The scene when she hears the messages is very powerful especially. Still, the film goes out on a somewhat high note as the circle closes when she visits his place, the location where her husband fell in love with the cakemaker. And the smile on her face with the open ending if they will meet again or not if they will become a couple again or not etc. was a nice choice I think too. Another minor character I liked was the dead man's mother who clearly knew what was going on, maybe because he told her maybe because she saw it in him maybe because she just realized it when she saw his lover. Tough to make any statements on the brother, he tries his best, but maybe gives it the wrong approach in several areas. Unlike Graizer who stunningly delivers and there were moments when I considered giving the film an even higher rating and putting it into the list of my absolute favorites from 2017. By the way, this is Israel's official submission for the 2019 Oscars in the foreign language category and we will see how well it fares there. Looking at the contents, the subject that is really Hollywood friendly (while being the opposite 10-20 years ago probably) and the awards recognition this film already received, it is almost a lock for an Oscar nomination in my opinion and has a really good shot for the win even I think. It definitely would not be undeserving and would be a great winner looking at some other winners from recenty years in said category that I found underwhelming like Hungary and Poland to mention only 2. Yeah, absolutely go watch The Cakemaker if you get the chance to. This film's strength is that it touches some controversial areas only very slightly. The gay component was not crucial at all, same about the religion aspects (the uncle would have been amazed to see what the two do in the "kosher" kitchen near the end). After all, it is mostly a mesmerizing character study at its very core. Highly highly recommended.

"The Cakemaker" is a gentle, sad film about a young German man who becomes infatuated with his deceased male lover and travels to Israel to be close to the lover's widow and child. He gets a job at a cafe run by the widow and the two of them strike up an uneasy romance of sorts -- both of them use the other as a proxy for the man who's no longer in either of their lives. Within this complicated emotional scenario, the film explores themes of cultural and religious prejudice and intolerance -- the German man has to overcome animosity and assumptions made about him by some of the Israeli characters while the widow has to contend with a different sort of prejudice because she's not religious and isn't "kosher" enough for some.

It's a very quiet and thoughtful film, and I really enjoyed its gentle rhythms. It's very much about grief and the human instinct to find people and things to keep alive the memories of those we've lost.

Grade: A-