Iris
Louise Hibbert, University of
Birmingham
Iris is a
thought-provoking and very moving film, portraying aspects of the
novelist Iris Murdoch’s life from college through to old age. The
film addresses an understanding of Alzheimer’s disease from both
the patient’s and relatives’ perspectives. It provides an insight
into Iris’ experience of the disease whilst also demonstrating the
emotions of her husband, John Bayley. His emotions include
unrealistic hope, worry, fear, and clear anger, not only with Iris,
but also with “Dr Alzheimer”. Viewers can also sense the
difficulties Iris herself ensues, particularly in the initial
stages of the disease where she begins to forget things. What
remains so touching and powerful about Iris, is the
illustration of human life and emotion – it is relatively easy to
focus on a patient’s illness or diagnosis when seeing them in the
clinical setting, but the portrayal of the person behind the
disease is crucially demonstrated within the film. The film gives
recognition into the effects of Alzheimer’s disease on the patient
and their family alike, which is becoming increasingly important
for a society in which there are growing numbers within the elderly
category. It also touches on current issues within Alzheimer’s
disease management, such as the struggles of those caring for the
patient.
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Revolutionary road
Owen Cain, fourth year
medical student, University of Birmingham
In the film
revolutionary road, Michael Shannon played the part of
John Givings, a professor of mathematics who became “mentally
unwell” and returned to live with his overbearing mother and
father. When invited to tea with Frank (Leonardo DiCaprio) and
April (Kate Winslet) Wheeler, Givings is able to sympathize with
their desire to escape from 1950s US suburbia to Paris, where “the
people are alive”. Unlike any other character in the film, Givings
sees the plan as quite understandable given the mundane lives he
sees being led by those around him. Surprised to have found
two people who share his misgivings about middle-class suburban
culture, Givings begins asking the Wheelers questions too direct
and personal to be socially acceptable. His mother – perhaps
displaying some signs of high expressed emotion – tries to restrain
him. The Wheelers however are delighted to have found someone
who finally understands the reason for their planned escape.
The idea that mental
illness provides its own unique perspective on the human condition
is not a new one. The end of Neitzsche’s life is a case in
point. R. D. Laing argued that psychosis can, for some, be a
meaningful experience, something to be treasured and not cured.
Sebastian Faulks in his novel human traces has one of his
characters (a psychiatrist) declare that his patients are “at the
forefront, at the vanguard of what it means to be human.” Because
Givings was forced to the periphery of his society, he was able to
see it more clearly and so respond to the Wheelers’ situation more
deeply and perceptively than any other character in the
film.
There was also a poignant
difference between the Wheelers and Givings. Both identified a
problem with their culture, but only the Wheelers had any hope of
something better. Whether or not Parisian life would have
lived up to the Wheelers’ expectations is irrelevant: their freedom
to hope made living bearable. Givings, however, was without
hope. He could control neither his illness nor his society’s
way of dealing with his illness. He exposed the meaninglessness of
his culture, but was unable to go any further. Givings was stuck on
course leading to nowhere, a vicious circle, a revolutionary
road.
Ultimately,
revolutionary road is a film about hope. We are presented
with the challenge of exposing the unreality of reality, and then
of finding reconciliation in hope. Perhaps mental illness
facilitates the first part of this challenge; it certainly makes
the second part infinitely more demanding.
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Page last updated on 16 May 2010
by E Baker-Glenn