Monday, March 20, 2006

a good movie

here's what Netflix says about "Iris", starring Judi Dench:
"Iris Murdoch was l'enfant terrible of the literary world in early 1950s Britain -- a live wire who thumbed her nose at the conformity of the era via a voracious sex life that included male and female partners. In this snippet of her life, Murdoch (Judi Dench) faces the onset of Alzheimer's disease alongside her adoring husband (Jim Broadbent). Kate Winslet portrays the young, free-spirited Iris in flashbacks."

I watched this movie the other night and enjoyed it very much, in a bittersweet sort of way. I admire women who thumb their noses at convention... so really liked it on that level. Also, enjoyed her wit and intellect. The bitter part was watching this bright and gifted woman lose it all to that dreaded disease. It did give me a glimse into what my mother's life must have felt like to her as she gradually lost touch with reality. I'm not sure whether Mom actually had Alzheimer's or if her dementia was more due to mini-strokes which gradually diminished her thinking processes..... but it doesn't really matter which it was...the result was awful for her and for her family. It may sound like I was depressed by the movie, but I wasn't. I love watching Judi Dench and thought the movie was well done, and kind of broadened my perspective. The thought of the possibility of losing touch with my reality at some future point is frightening, but I refuse to dwell on it and thereby waste the now with worrying about what might be!! so there!!

and now am wishing "Pink Panther" with Steve Martin would be on dvd SOON! maybe i'll go back and watch "All of Me" with Steve Martin and Lili Tomlin... my all time favorite movie of his!!

1 comment:

Charleen said...

Sounds interesting (and a little scary), I'll have to rent it. I'm anxiously awaiting Memoirs of a Geisha. I think it's released next week.