(Spoilers) In the first scene Vivian Bearing (Emma Thompson) is told she has stage IV ovarian cancer. From that point the film traces her experience to the end, in intimate detail. If you are a cancer survivor, or have been through this experience with a loved one, then I would think that this will be too painful to watch. For others this is probably going to be as close to the experience as you will get until it comes to your life.
Vivian is a professor specializing in the poetry of John Donne; appropriately Donne's "Death be not proud" poem figures in the movie. One of the things I got from seeing this is how thinking about death, reading great poetry on the subject, listening to philosophers philosophize doesn't really help a whole lot when faced with the ultimate truth. In the final moments Vivian is a scared, lonely person who simply seeks some human kindness. She does not get this kindness from her doctors--no, they are more interested in her as the object of an experiment to see how well she can withstand intense chemotherapy, so that they can write an article about it Vivian speculates. Vivian does get some understanding and kindness from her nurse Susie (Audra McDonald in a fine performance).
Vivian is a brilliant, tough woman who most eloquently articulates her experiences, with some wit. The presentation has innovative touches, like placing the ailing Bearing in her classroom teaching in her hospital gown. Some of the most effective scenes have Vivian talking directly to the camera. One scene I found particularly revealing was when Vivian talked about how slowly time moved and said directly to us, "If this were reality, I would just lie here in silence for fifteen minutes while you sat there looking at me." A particularly moving scene had Vivian's adviser, professor Ashford, visit her on her deathbed. When Ashford said to Vivian, "It's a windy day," I was struck by the total gap between those who are still living their daily lives and those who are dying.
By her own admission Vivian is a person who wants to know things, so one thing that puzzled me was why she did not ask more questions at the time of her initial diagnosis. Questions like: "What are my options?", "What are the odds in each case?", "What if I do nothing?", "Can you recommend someone to give me a second opinion?" Given the odds, it looks to me like she would have been much better off to have done nothing but wait until the pain was so bad that she could go on morphine. As it was, her treatment made her life a living hell for the time she had left.
Thompson gives a spectacularly good performance. I have to believe that this was not an easy role and it took no small amount of courage for her to commit to it.
Vivian is a professor specializing in the poetry of John Donne; appropriately Donne's "Death be not proud" poem figures in the movie. One of the things I got from seeing this is how thinking about death, reading great poetry on the subject, listening to philosophers philosophize doesn't really help a whole lot when faced with the ultimate truth. In the final moments Vivian is a scared, lonely person who simply seeks some human kindness. She does not get this kindness from her doctors--no, they are more interested in her as the object of an experiment to see how well she can withstand intense chemotherapy, so that they can write an article about it Vivian speculates. Vivian does get some understanding and kindness from her nurse Susie (Audra McDonald in a fine performance).
Vivian is a brilliant, tough woman who most eloquently articulates her experiences, with some wit. The presentation has innovative touches, like placing the ailing Bearing in her classroom teaching in her hospital gown. Some of the most effective scenes have Vivian talking directly to the camera. One scene I found particularly revealing was when Vivian talked about how slowly time moved and said directly to us, "If this were reality, I would just lie here in silence for fifteen minutes while you sat there looking at me." A particularly moving scene had Vivian's adviser, professor Ashford, visit her on her deathbed. When Ashford said to Vivian, "It's a windy day," I was struck by the total gap between those who are still living their daily lives and those who are dying.
By her own admission Vivian is a person who wants to know things, so one thing that puzzled me was why she did not ask more questions at the time of her initial diagnosis. Questions like: "What are my options?", "What are the odds in each case?", "What if I do nothing?", "Can you recommend someone to give me a second opinion?" Given the odds, it looks to me like she would have been much better off to have done nothing but wait until the pain was so bad that she could go on morphine. As it was, her treatment made her life a living hell for the time she had left.
Thompson gives a spectacularly good performance. I have to believe that this was not an easy role and it took no small amount of courage for her to commit to it.