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Death, Dying, and Grief

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21Jan

Dying Wish

The defining theme of Dying Wish is offered at its outset by 80-year-old retired surgeon Dr. Michael Miller, who suffers from late-stage terminal cancer: “I’m Michael Miller. Soon I will discontinue drinking and eating and drift into death in days.
11Oct

The Farewell

When a lie becomes part of carefully orchestrated communication in the service of the perceived good of the lie's recipient, is it justified? The Farewell presents this question within a scenario that is also complicated by the differing societal assumptions expressed in Eastern and Western cultures.
11Feb

The Kominsky Method

Humor can sometimes be a helpful diversion in dealing with uncomfortable emotions—but humor that is flippant and tin-eared is not. If I were confined to one adjective that best defines the new Netflix comedy, The Kominsky Method, it would be “flippant.”
11Feb

Marjorie Prime

Memory, and its loss, is a well-worn theme in many films, including several that explore the loss of memory due to dementia. But Marjorie Prime presents us with a new and intriguing supposition regarding the future of personal memories.
10Aug

The Discovery

In stark contrast to Uncle Boonmee, this film takes a much more Western approach, calling on science to give us proof of ongoing life after death. The film opens with neurology scientist Thomas Harbor (Robert Redford) giving an interview to a journalist.
10Aug

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives is a refreshingly different film by Thai director, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, that presents a seemingly casual acceptance of reincarnation as a given.
03Jun

The Way We Get By

The Way We Get By offers an intimate glimpse into the lives of three elderly Maine Troop Greeters at the Bangor Airport. Because of its eastern-most location, the Bangor Airport has served as the major departure and arrival point of more than a million U.S. troops involved in the Iraqi and Afghanistan theaters of war.
08Oct

Departures

In Departures, the topic of death is initially objectified and held at a distance. By the end of the film, death has become more personal. Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki) is a young aspiring cellist in Tokyo and is deep in debt from the purchase of a new cello.
16Aug

The Bucket List

The two men initially banter with each other and then develop a supportive relationship. When Edward finds a discarded “bucket list” started and then abandoned by Carter, he suggests that they make it a joint list and then go out and do the things on the list while they are still able.
08Jun

Amour

After winning the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2012, Michael Haneke’s Amour has received rave reviews from most reviewers, and more recently, an Oscar for Best Foreign Film. At first viewing, Amour seems like it could be a departure from Haneke’s other films, which ask the viewer to tolerate wanton violence or at least the ever-foreboding threat of violence.
07Dec

What Time is Left

As young videographer Dakin Henderson (What Time Is Left) drives to a family meeting to discuss his Grandmother Deedee’s desire for a living will, he sings a lament: “And I’m young and stupid. Oh to be old and wise, to be comfortable with the process of my own demise.” The lyric accurately captures the common theme of these two films—the life-long, continuous attempts that people make to come to terms with the meanings of aging and of death. Both films were motivated by different yet personally relevant death experiences.
Movies About Aging and Elderhood