Michael Caine and Glenda Jackson say goodbye to the cinema audience together – he as an aged war veteran in which the war is still raging, she as his wife. A worthy final appearance.
The two of them have seen a lot in their lives, but she doesn’t want to show him everything. Irene has her principles when it comes to her face without make-up. When she shoos her husband Bernie out of the room in the morning and he protests that he has already seen her without makeup, she replies: “Yes, 1973. And that won’t happen again.” Irene and Bernie, played by Glenda Jackson and Michael Caine, are an old couple who can no longer hear or see well, who rely on walking aids and who eat the contents of half a pharmacy cupboard every morning. But they haven’t lost their sense of humor.