some notes taken during the film. timestamps may be a bit off since i was sincerely locked in to the happenings on screen. SALLY (0:00) - 3:15 - “and then—down, down, down” - 8:55 - “we don’t have choice of a destiny” - 14:12 - cut to a photo of her younger self with the mother who is taking care of her now in her old age, who took care of her her whole life, who brought her into this world, and will see her out. most don’t have that. could it be that this is actually a beautiful fortune, only afforded to those of us who end up in situations that most would deem less fortunate? idk what sally thought, but i’d like to believe she’d lie along these lines. one of the points driving me towards this conclusion is her words upon her arrival back home from the hospital ~13:00 “there’s no place like home […] stillness” - she went into coma, she got her wish. HARRIET AND BILL (18:17) - opening is in b&w. what drove this choice? - we now introduce, more directly, a subject who is not dying. seeing how others respond to the death of their loved ones vs said loved one who is dying is very interesting. - harriet has now joked twice about leaving/going away/abandoning her family. these are just jokes, but is there some truth behind them? could this be caused by the incoming death of her husband? - harriet is already planning for the future—“find another father”, “a really bad summer”(previous point confirmed), “if he’s gotta go why can’t it be quick and get it over with” - 36:20 - “nothing you can do, just keep going from day to day i guess” - 38:30 - “we’d get over it” starting over starts before we’re even done. “i pray that chemotherapy doesn’t work” she wants him to die. is she wrong? doc started spitting about bill’s autonomy. it’s interesting to see how people completely disregard the ability and cognition of folks once their health declines, or what they can think and decide for themselves once they are disabled / medically deficient. it’s not easy to always know, and sometimes the professionals don’t (the doctor even says this). however, on top of us caring for these folks who we know need some type of help and assistance , we must also afford them so type of benefit of the doubt that they can still act, in some capacity, on their own volition. REV. BRYANT (42:30) - for rev bryant, we have a case where we actually see when the person finds out they are dying, RIGHT after we see his aspirations - “if i can see all my grandchildren grown…” - “i’m not upset” i sense that this is true, but he is distraught. - 46:25 - “you have to ignore it[…]they don’t know what they talkin bout[…]it ain’t gon hurt the dr for me to feel like that” - this one is shot dead on, and the “dying” one in question is speaking directly to us, reflecting his preaching nature in a way, a pedagogical practice by nature. he is speaking to us on his past, divine intervention and blessing, wishes for a family, and how they all intertwine. roemer’s variance of technique is most apparent and noted in this section. if intention, or at least impact, wasn’t noted before it is here. tremendous. - the next sermon we see is about death. man. - “i want to answer this question in front of the whole world” 45 years later, and his wish is still coming true - his happiest moments are now - this section, and the film at that, fittingly end by showing the reactions of those the dead one impacted—and what better way to do this than with the funeral of a reverend, one who is a public figure, who’s reach is wide, and whose hand is on many? despite whoever is “objectively” closer to him (i.e. family, friends), the shadows of death cover us all.
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