Monday, October 31, 2016

Still Alice...This Will Go Into My Memorable Movie List!

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I think it is better to watch the trailer first!



I try to watch movies without reading the gist, or watching the trailers.  So, the story will be a surprise for me! My mind will be blank to enjoy it fully!

This movie, 'Still Alice' is about a middle aged lady, not a very old lady, Alice, stepping into Alzheimer's disease symptoms slowly.  The movie starts with Alice Howland (Julianne Moore...brilliant acting and got an oscar for this film!) jogging in the morning.  She is slim, tall and runs very fast for her age, 50! Comes home, cooks, cleans, takes care of the family of three children and a husband, goes out to work as a professor at Columbia University (as a linguistic professor to be precise) and she is famous there with her students.  While taking the class, she forgets a word here and there.  She becomes tensed up a bit and checks with a Neurological doctor and gets to know that she is in the early onset of Alzheimer's disease...She comes to know that this disease is genetic and she had got it from her father.  She tries to evade the disease by following some mental exercises.  Her whole family is supportive.

Well, I should not write the whole story.  It is a bit tension filled movie.  But Julianne's acting is so brilliant that we forget about coming out of the movie mode by just switching it off! Her physician husband, John Howland, supports/helps her a lot.  She wants her younger daughter who was in theatre, to finish her degree and be stable in her life.  She wants the daughter to be safe when she won't be there to guide her.  She loses her job because she was not able to be focused.

I liked the speech Julianne gave about the disease at the Alzheimers' conference, when she was half way into it.  You must watch the movie to appreciate it.  Many other memorable scenes/stages are there in the movie.

This movie is  based on Lisa Genova's 2007 best selling novel of the same name and is directed by Richard Glatzer and Wah Westmoreland.

This is from imdb 'trivia' section:
Co-director Richard Glatzer, suffers from ALS and can't speak. He directed the film using a text to speech app on an iPad. Both Moore and Stewart dedicated their "Ice Bucket Challenge" to Glatzer. The team couldn't attend the Oscar function where Julianne received her Best Actress award for this movie, because Glatzer was seriously ill and died later.

(Physicist Stephen Hawking suffered from this ailment and I did a post on his movie here!)

This movie and Julianne got many more awards and the list is in wiki. She is beautiful!!

Long back I read a book by Arthur Hailey, 'The final diagnosis' which was about the lives of intern students in a medical hospital.  Every night, after their classes, the students compare the symptoms of the diseases they studied in the class, on their bodies! That was a very good book.  Like that, I was checking myself at some stages in the movie! As you know, I am 'maradhimanni' i.e. Forgetful queen! I forget nearly on an average, 10 times a day, about words, things, incidents etc.  I think after I started writing here, the symptoms are coming down slowly, still, it is there!  I was a bit nervous, watching the movie! Then, I told myself, when I can do mixture (a bit tough!) and so many sweets at home for festivals, I don't think I will step into Alzheimer's that easily!!!  

I liked the ending in the movie!

Watched this in Tata Sky's Le plex channel! Very good movies are being screened there!

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18 comments :

SG said...

Beautiful and powerful movie.

Sandhya said...

SG: Yes! Thanks for the first comment, SG! You must have watched this movie!!

SG said...

Yes I did.

Destination Infinity said...

I will try to watch this movie sometime, Maami. Thanks for your recommendation. I love Arthur Hailey's books - I have read a few of them, but not the one you mentioned. Time to pick up another book written by him :)

Destination Infinity

ashok said...

will try to watch it ..thanks for the recommendation

Sandhya said...

SG: I didn't write how my eyes welled up in some places! She has acted very naturally. Every frame is believable. This can happen to anybody.


DESTINATION INFINITY: I used to read a lot loooong back! Retention power is low now, so I relate to this movie very much:( This channel shows many good movies and with minimum ad breaks! I record and then watch leisurely.


ASHOK: Please do, Ashok! Do you like to watch serious movies? Then this is for you!





Bikram said...

I have seen this one and as you say it is a EXCELLENT movie and so very well acted toooo

Bikram's

Jeevan said...

I like movie based on life stories... and your description inspiring to watch this movie.

Zephyr said...

I read the book, Sandhya and it was a little disturbing. I got all the info about the disease and its progression in the book. What I liked about it was the interpersonal relationships and how they subtly alter when the truth about the disease is known, some in the most unexpected ways. Somehow I don't like to watch a movie after reading a book :)

Sandhya said...

BIKRAM: Yes, it is a memorable movie!


JEEVAN: It is a good movie and you will like this! Repeat telecast will be there in Tatasky!


ZEPHYR: I agree with you! Most of the time, the movie doesn't do justice to the book! I don't think I will read the book. I liked the movie and know very well that the book will be better, but won't enjoy now after watching the movie. Beautiful story and acting!

Shilpa said...

I have decided not to watch movies for a year :)

Shail said...

I am going to watch it now. Thanks for your review. :)
I was never forgetful and have always had a very sharp memory of even the minutest things.

Saritha said...

I am going to get this cd. I like this kind of movies.

Saritha said...

I watched this movie today. I had tears in my eyes...as you said this movie will be with me for some time.

Saritha said...

Will look out for the book.

Sandhya said...

SHILPA CHANDRASEKERAN: Hmmm....enjoy life peacefully!!!


SHAIL MOHAN: You are lucky! I am surrounded by people like me...they call themselves maradhimanni 2, 3 etc.:) I didn't write/comment about many good scenes. Something should be there for people who read this and then watch the movie. You will like it!


SARITHA: Yes, we will remember this movie and quote after many years on some occasions! I don't know if I would like the book. The movie was picturized very well.

Rama Ananth said...

It is indeed a beautiful movie, and I have seen it many times,especially when my father was suffering from Dementia. Juliene Moore is very good actress. I still feel they did not bring out many things are associated with this disease, but being a movie, one can just forgive them for the lapses.
Hers was not such a bad case, she was just in the beginning stage, even in the end, she had the sense of doing the things, she was supposed to do, but unfortunately she could not complete it, and so she remains still Alice.
It is really sad, no one should ever get this disease, it is the worst kind of disease. I cried and cried like anything, how I wished she had completed what she wanted to complete,although I knew that it was not going to happen as I had seen it already, but still....
I watched it in Youtube, and even saw it in TV. Notebook is also a good movie dealing with the same subject

Sandhya said...

RAMA ANANTH: Thanks for the detailed comment, Rama! I was so upset at some areas that I paused, drank water and then continued. I remember about your father. Books is very good it seems. I don't know if I would enjoy it now, after seeing such a sterling performance by Moore.

Yes, I have seen 'Notebook' also, a beautiful movie!

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