Take, as a metaphor for reality, a ten-story building in which there are no stairways or elevators. You are born, live out your life and die on the first floor. You are told that there are more things 'up there' but you choose to ignore that, to restrict your universe of inquiry to only that which is visible. Of course, there is much on the first floor to understand much of which can be quite wondrous and the strength of the film lies in the fact that it takes that arbitrary exclusion of the upper floors -- imposed as it is by the spirit of the age, the materialist spirit -- and carries its inquiry into death as far as it can go. But are there any upper floors? Does reality extend beyond that which can be sensed? And does Vivian Bearing ('bearer of life') live on after death only in an artsy, mystical sense or is there more to it than that? The film leaves those questions unanswered. Indeed, it does not ask them.
I found the film's treatment of the hospital staff quite unfair. I have gone through 7 rounds of chemo myself and never encountered the kind of apathy, rudeness and icy reserve that the film depicts. It seems to me that the story might not have worked without these cartoonish foils but it grates on me nonetheless. Reality is the opposite.
A virtuoso performance by Thompson. If your are drawn to her acting, you must also see 'Fortunes of War'.
I found the film's treatment of the hospital staff quite unfair. I have gone through 7 rounds of chemo myself and never encountered the kind of apathy, rudeness and icy reserve that the film depicts. It seems to me that the story might not have worked without these cartoonish foils but it grates on me nonetheless. Reality is the opposite.
A virtuoso performance by Thompson. If your are drawn to her acting, you must also see 'Fortunes of War'.