The nutshell of the movie is given in a quote shown at the start, which is, “Two and a half years ago, hell came to pay me a surprise visit”– Andrew Solomon.
A working woman succumbs to the illness/ disorder she once had and recovered. She was keeping that secret from her current husband as it destroyed her previous relationship. The story is her suffering and exposing the menacing nature of the illness to the viewers. And Ashley Judd has done it with flying colours. This illness, poorly understood, but almost completely treatable, but need the acceptance of the society for recovery, is now the second most chronic illness reported. Society is to blame for the high rate of mortality through suicide because of the stigma attached to it, which prevent acceptance of treatment. Given that this illness is identical to diabetes and hypertension in terms of treatment duration and life style changes, people readily accept the latter two as 'normal' part of life and not the disorder in question.
Also so wonderfully shown is the helplessness of medical sector to provide adequate care because of the interference of law. It is true that the law was made to prevent abuse and uphold the right of an individual, but too much intrusion, claimed as 'the right', and providing that right to make decisions, back to individuals who already have had lost the ability to make correct judgment because of the illness, is absurd. In the end, the family and the patient suffers while the lawyers claim money and moral high ground. In my opinion, the law is in need of a major tweaking. This is clearly evident in the manner of questions put forth by the patient's lawyer, desperate to exhibit her skill than what is good for the patient, even when patient history suggested risk. Moreover, towards the end, we see that the suffering patient finally accepting that she need treatment. Will the law accept its mistake then?
And few other interesting things to note in the movie are, Helen's (AJ) friendship with another sufferer of such illness, with another type of presentation. She clearly tells her husband that he would not know what she was feeling and she would not blame him for it. Only such sufferers can understand each other. Then it shows the characteristic of dedicated love between a man and a woman. Her husband wait for her recovery, patiently, while fighting against his desire to move on in life. And finally, the movie shows us the dangerous outcome of this illness through an expected act.
I recommend this movie to all who cares to watch true portrayal of a sufferer called Helen. My personal rating is 5 out of 5…
No comments:
Post a Comment