- An older housewife discovers she has a knack for solving puzzles.
- Maria's husband and children give her a puzzle for her 50th birthday. She's delighted, and finds it a great discovery. Not only does the patient housewife have fun doing the puzzles, she's also really good at them. Overflowing with enthusiasm for her new-found passion, she goes back to the shop where they bought the gift for another puzzle. There her eye is caught by a notice on the message board: "Partner for puzzle tournament wanted". Maria musters her courage and, despite her family's misgivings, answers the announcement.—Anonymous
- Puzzle is about more than a fifty-year-old woman discovering she has a talent for assembling puzzles; it's about a family in which all members--the woman, her husband and their two sons--are stuck in very traditional roles, though no one is apparently unhappy. The film opens as the woman celebrates her birthday with family and friends. It soon becomes clear that she has done everything for her party, including lighting the candles on the cake she has baked for herself. At the end of the evening, she is left with all the mess. She is, however, distracted by a certain gift, a puzzle, which she prefers toying with to doing the dishes. We are not surprised by her interest in this puzzle, as we have already seen her assemble the pieces of a plate that broke during the party; as well, we know that the salad she made for her guests resembled a puzzle.
By the time we meet the other family members, we already think we know them, and we do, to a certain degree. What we don't readily see is that the men are not as stereotypic as we thought they were; they have begun to explore some non-traditional pursuits, including Tai Chi and vegan cooking. Each of them is in the process of growing and changing. But, when the stable, unchanging core of the family, the young men's mother and the husband's wife, finds herself consumed by a new hobby, we feel a tension begin to build. Can she do both--be the ultimate housewife and mother and, at the same time, explore her new interest? When we hear her husband's repeated grumbles and witness her telling him she will give up her puzzles, if that's what he wants, we are not sure. It's clear that he misses her ongoing availability to him and their adolescent sons; it is clear that she has some guilt about wanting to do something other than please her family.
So as not to disturb the family balance, our heroine decides to pursue puzzle-making in secret. She meets a gentleman (via an ad she finds at a puzzle shop) who is so impressed with her talent that he wants her to be his partner in an important competition. To practice with him and eventually others, she must make a difficult commute and not get caught, since she has lied to her husband and sons about where she goes twice a week. In the company of her puzzle-partner, she begins a serious transformation. He sees her talent and praises it, praise she graciously accepts. (When she first told her husband she wanted to compete, he laughed at her.) He introduces her to art and tea, his housekeeper and some female friends.
For the competition that she has prepared well for, she dresses beautifully and even wears lipstick. In the end, she and her partner win and, after having too much wine to drink in celebration, find themselves in each other's arms. Though she has won a ticket to a grand puzzle championship in Germany, our heroine realizes she doesn't need to take her pursuit any further. She is satisfied and happy. As proof, she offers to take her husband's place in a business transaction which he cannot be present for, and he sees that it is possible to let her do so. It seems that, in the end, this family has enough love, trust and respect that it can, in spite of its growing pains, thrive as a collective of individuals.
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