Post by klep on May 10, 2021 11:11:48 GMT -6
MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 5/10: Dick Johnson is Dead
2020 CATCHUP WEEK!
It only took a few minutes for me to love Dick Johnson. He's such a charming, warm, and happy man. It's easy to understand why he means so much to his daughter, filmmaker Kirsten Johson. And why it's similarly so upsetting that he's going to die.
Dick Johnson has dementia, which means he's going to be gone well before he dies. It's something that the Johnson family is familiar with, as his wife died of Alzheimer's some seven years previous. Kirsten knows what's coming, and what it's going to rob from her. Of her mother she only has photos and memories - no footage of her mother as she was before Alzheimer's robbed her of her self. She's determined not to let that happen with her dad.
So as a way to capture the wonderful person Dick Johnson is while simultaneously looking for a way to deal with his impending mortality, she's going to kill him. A lot. On film. As she moves her dad across the country to live with her, Kirsten shoots a number of scenarios in which her dad could plausibly die in day-to-day life. A fall down the stairs, an A/C unit falling on him, a car wreck, and in a bit of slapstick comedy a careless construction worker slamming a board with a nail on it into her father's neck.
The deaths are filmed somberly, and we're supposed to feel the weight of the tragic death Kirsten is trying to cope with. But Dick Johnson is far too happy a person to keep that kind of tone going. Kirsten is quick to break the tension, and spends the film cutting between honest attempts to grapple with her father's fate and joyous celebrations of his life. She even stages scenes of her father in heaven, having the time of his afterlife and even having his life's biggest regret dealt with - his feet toeless from birth given toes through the magic of cinema.
It's tough to have a love one diagnosed with dementia, but the silver lining is that it gives you an opportunity you don't always get. You can say goodbye to them while they're still here. Kirsten Johnson is going to lose her dad. But she's gotten to say goodbye to the man he was before that man was lost. She was able to give him a beautiful tribute, and share with the world this man she loves so much. Dick Johnson may be dead, but Dick Johnson lives on.
2020 CATCHUP WEEK!
It only took a few minutes for me to love Dick Johnson. He's such a charming, warm, and happy man. It's easy to understand why he means so much to his daughter, filmmaker Kirsten Johson. And why it's similarly so upsetting that he's going to die.
Dick Johnson has dementia, which means he's going to be gone well before he dies. It's something that the Johnson family is familiar with, as his wife died of Alzheimer's some seven years previous. Kirsten knows what's coming, and what it's going to rob from her. Of her mother she only has photos and memories - no footage of her mother as she was before Alzheimer's robbed her of her self. She's determined not to let that happen with her dad.
So as a way to capture the wonderful person Dick Johnson is while simultaneously looking for a way to deal with his impending mortality, she's going to kill him. A lot. On film. As she moves her dad across the country to live with her, Kirsten shoots a number of scenarios in which her dad could plausibly die in day-to-day life. A fall down the stairs, an A/C unit falling on him, a car wreck, and in a bit of slapstick comedy a careless construction worker slamming a board with a nail on it into her father's neck.
The deaths are filmed somberly, and we're supposed to feel the weight of the tragic death Kirsten is trying to cope with. But Dick Johnson is far too happy a person to keep that kind of tone going. Kirsten is quick to break the tension, and spends the film cutting between honest attempts to grapple with her father's fate and joyous celebrations of his life. She even stages scenes of her father in heaven, having the time of his afterlife and even having his life's biggest regret dealt with - his feet toeless from birth given toes through the magic of cinema.
It's tough to have a love one diagnosed with dementia, but the silver lining is that it gives you an opportunity you don't always get. You can say goodbye to them while they're still here. Kirsten Johnson is going to lose her dad. But she's gotten to say goodbye to the man he was before that man was lost. She was able to give him a beautiful tribute, and share with the world this man she loves so much. Dick Johnson may be dead, but Dick Johnson lives on.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 5/17: La Strada
1950s WEEK!
For 1950s Week we'll be watching our first Fellini, with his Oscar-winning 1954 film La Strada. Be sure to join us next week as we discuss this undeniable classic, available on Criterion Channel, HBO Max, and kanopy.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 5/11: Big Trouble in Little China
Next up the podcast pairs up the latest Mortal Kombat adaptation with this Kurt Russell classic. Come join us Wednesday for our discussion of Big Trouble in Little China, available for rent in the usual places.
1950s WEEK!
For 1950s Week we'll be watching our first Fellini, with his Oscar-winning 1954 film La Strada. Be sure to join us next week as we discuss this undeniable classic, available on Criterion Channel, HBO Max, and kanopy.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 5/11: Big Trouble in Little China
Next up the podcast pairs up the latest Mortal Kombat adaptation with this Kurt Russell classic. Come join us Wednesday for our discussion of Big Trouble in Little China, available for rent in the usual places.