DEMENTIA

     I recently saw Julianne Moore's incredible performance in Still Alice (2014). She plays a university professor in the throes of early-stage Alzheimer's disease. She deservedly won the Best Actress Oscar, conveying the terror and helplessness that must affect those stricken with this terrible disease. It occurred to me later that I had seen several really excellent films centered on a character with some form of dementia.

     The earliest example I can think of is On Golden Pond (1981). Before that one, such people were generally relegated to comic relief. Henry Fonda plays the patriarch of a small family. Daughter Jane plays his daughter (!) and the legendary Katherine Hepburn is his wife. Both female characters sense Dad's gradual mental ebbing before he does. In a crucial scene, he becomes lost in a familiar setting and realizes something is terribly wrong.

     There were three splendid films on this subject in 2001, all from foreign countries. Firefly Dreams is from Japan. A petulant teenager's parents send her to the countryside to work at her uncle's inn and cafe. She reluctantly puts up with her retarded cousin who makes her finally realize how fortunate she is. She is dispatched to help an elderly woman (Maho) who lives nearby who is sliding into dementia. The girl gradually realizes that the old lady had quite a life as a young woman and that everyone is of value, regardless of their mental state. 

     From Sweden comes A Song For Martin. The afflicted character here is a renown classical music composer. Imagine standing before a huge orchestra in a packed theater to conduct your own concerto and forgetting what to do next. He does not go gently, but go he does. Martin falls in love with the lovely first violinist and they have a few months of happiness before he is diagnosed with Alzheimer's. His descent is fast: at one point while out in the water he forgets how to swim. 

      And from England we have Iris about the famous author Iris Murdoch. Kate Winslett plays Iris as a young woman and Judi Dench plays her as a mature celebrated writer who gradually loses her bearings to dementia. Jim Broadbent is very good as her long-suffering husband. All three actors were nominated for Oscars and Broadbent won. 

     Finally, the wonderful Julie Christie is the central character in Away From Her (2007). As she slides deeper and deeper into dementia, forgetting what happened the day before and who her husband (Gordon Pinsent) is, he makes the ultimate sacrifice. She has fallen in love with a fellow patient and her husband does everything he can to aid that relationship, placing her happiness ahead of everything. 

     I rate every one of these films at 9 out of 10!  All of them are available on DVD and for streaming. All are definitely for grown-ups.