(Mark Rydell, US 1981, 109 min., 35mm)
Henry Fonda’s last screen appearance finally earned him his elusive Academy Award. Norman and Ethel Thayer (Fonda and Katharine Hepburn, who earned her fourth award for her performance) are an aging married couple who keep their annual tradition of summering at their cottage on Golden Pond. Though curmudgeonly, the couple are still very loving, despite being estranged from their daughter, Chelsea (Fonda’s daughter Jane). When Chelsea finally visits, she brings along her fiance and his son Billy Ray, whom the Thayers are meeting for the first time. Nearing 80, Norman contemplates his past relationships and his fear of being vulnerable, but amidst the natural beauty of their surroundings familial bonds can be re-forged and new relationships begun.