The Cider House Rules

The adaptation of John Irving's The Cider House Rules is a beautiful and touching film, which is a cinematic equivalent of the 'Bildungsroman'.

1943: Homer Wells has lived at the St Clouds orphanage in Maine since he was an infant. Dr Wilbur Larch, who is the only one doctor there, has trained Homer as a doctor, but one day Homer decides to see the world. He gets a ride with Wally,a fighter pilot, and his fiancée, Candy, who has just had an abortion at the orphanage, which is something that Homer does not approve of.

Homer gets a job as an apple picker at Wally's mother's orchard where he both experiences the beautiful and ugly sides of life. Most important of all, he finds out who he is and what he wants from life.