Still Alice: Mein Leben ohne Gestern

I know that a lot of the criticism is that this movie didn't get down and dirty enough. Alzheimers is a horrible thing for the survivors to deal with. Perhaps it can only truly by dealt with in documentary form. Julianne Moore is utterly amazing and anyone who says this film isn't well researched did not read about her approach. Yes, there are things that could have been shown to make it even more frightening. We could have seen specific bodily functions affected. We could have seen more irrationality and pain. But it needs to be accessible. I believe if we are watching a fictional account, this is very well done.

I have a sister in law at age 66 with end stage ALZ and I myself have stage 4 terminal brain cancer at age 62. I haven't been able to adequately and satisfactorily articulate the effect of loss of memory as well as this movie did. I have lost everything, but I have memories that bubble to the surface that keep me going. Life is not about stuff. Life is animating memories.

Still Alice is a realistic and emotional story of a woman living with Alzheimer's disease. Julianne Moore successfully shows the struggle, confusion, anger, pain and isolation of having such a disease through her incredible performance. She allows the audience to see what having Alzheimer's could possibly be like. This film also has an amazing screenplay, a screenplay that is raw and honest. There is also a great ensemble performance from the cast, featuring Alec Baldwin as the supportive and loving husband. The movie definitely makes the viewer think deeply about aspects of life such as memories, family, loss and bewilderment which are all addressed in Still Alice. See this film for a moving story, but mostly for Moore's miraculous performance. It wouldn't be a surprise if she won Best Actress in the upcoming Academy Awards.

Based on Lisa Genova's 2007 bestselling novel of the same name, 'Still Alice' is a saddening, but beautifully made film, that stays on your mind even after it concludes. Its A Well-Made Film with Strong Performances!

'Still Alice' Synopsis: Alice Howland, happily married with three grown children, is a renowned linguistics professor who starts to forget words. When she receives a devastating diagnosis, Alice and her family find their bonds tested.

'Still Alice' is about a women's journey coming to an abrupt end. Richard Glatzer & Wash Westmoreland's Adapted Screenplay is consistently engaging, although difficult to watch, at most times. The protagonist's journey with her family offers moments of pure love & sadness. You feel for the characters & particularly, for Alice. Glatzer & Westmoreland's Direction is under-stated, but impressive. Cinematography captures the bleakness, exceedingly well. Editing is just perfect.

Performance-Wise: Julianne Moore brings Alice to life, with a splendid performance. She becomes Alice & completes her tale, magnificently. Alec Baldwin, as Alice's supportive husband, redefines "control" in performance. He's restrained & patient all through. Kristen Stewart, as Alice's rebellious younger daughter, is natural. Kate Bosworth, as Alice's older daughter, is in true form, as well.

On the whole, 'Still Alice' is an experience, that demands to be felt. Two Thumbs up!

It probably goes without saying, but in my opinion "Still Alice" is right up there among this year's best pictures.

And what ultimately makes author Lisa Genova's debut bestselling novel so personal, yet so universal and identifiable in it's messages, are the performances. Alec Baldwin and Kristen Stewart are a part of a strong supporting cast, that will leave a lasting impression in your mind and it will be more than deserved. Both of their characters were so real - warm, supportive and earthly. And while both Baldwin and Stewart have taken the occasional misstep in their respective pasts, both of them once again showed without a doubt their acting abilities and scope, a word linguistics professor Dr. Alice Howland used, albeit with great difficulties, to describe her daughter Lydia (played by Stewart) in one point of the film.

And what a performance by Julianne Moore that was! She essentially made an already rich character in Alice, a frankly too young Alzheimer's disease patient, who also happens to be a renown linguistics professor, even more dimensional and rich. Moore's Alice is a strong, intelligent woman when we first meet her at her birthday at the beginning of the film. At that moment, Moore is confident and full of purpose. As she gets diagnosed with a rare form of Alzheimer's disease, that her children might have inherited from her, and time goes by, Alice becomes a shadow of herself, whose mental health deteriorates at an alarmingly fast rate. And that is the part that Moore portrayed with such skill and graceful pain, that the viewer can't help but get irreversibly emotionally involved with her character. We feel for her, we cry with her, we wish she would get better, although it is clear that is sadly not going to happen. And Moore's Alice knows it as well. And that makes the journey through her story even more challenging, difficult and painful for the viewer. Or as Beverly Beckham of The Boston Globe put it "This is Alice Howland's story, for as long as she can tell it".

The film was directed and adapted by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland, who share both the writing and directing duties on almost all of their projects to date. The two somehow complete each other and find the balance, that is needed to tell such a delicate story in a manner, which can do it proper justice.

I will probably be the only one saying this, but I thought the score was tremendous as well. Kudos goes to composer Ilan Eshkeri, who did an amazing job on the film. The music is often intense and minimalistic, it feels like it is just an addition to the already rich environment the characters find themselves in and I would love to see at least a nomination at the Oscars for Eshkeri, although I highly doubt it.

So, to wrap it up in a nutshell: Still Alice is a wonderful film, an intimate and fascinating study in the field of family drama, and one of the year's best. I definitely hope to see some awards buzz mainly around the cast - both Alec Baldwin and Kristen Stewart deserve it for their delicate and supportive portrayal of husband John and youngest daughter Lydia, respectively, who never gave up on Moore's Alice. And Julianne Moore - well, what can I say - her brutally sad and honest portrayal of Alice deserves to go down in the books of top-notch acting and she will reap the fruits of her work a long time from now (well, mostly, at the end of February, I hope).

So it is a nine out of ten stars from me, only because I felt there could have been more screen time for the other children in the Howland family, and therefore the film could have been at least 10-15 minutes longer.

But solely on Julianne Moore, Alec Baldwin and Kristen Stewart's impeccable acting, I say this film is among the very best in the subject and also among the best titles this year.

My grade: 9/10