En sång för Martin

Very very nice movie. So nice. Be prepared to cry. But its nice.

This was a very real and harrowing film. I went with misgivings since I knew what the subject was about, but fell under the spell cast by director Bille August.

This story rings true from the beginning. The film is a lovely love story between Barbara and Martin, played superbly by Viveka Seldahl and Sven Wottter.

Barbara, obviously is dealt a blow when the Alzheimer is diagnosed but she proceeds to deal with it in her own terms. Little did she know that her marriage to Martin would turn into the nightmare it did. How do you stop loving and doing for that person you thought about spending the rest of your life with?

The Alzheimer turns Martin into a vegetable. His mind is gone. From the brilliant composer and director, he becomes another person completely different from the person we met at the beginning of the film.

Most critics in New York keep comparing this film with Iris. It is very unfair, because obviously all Alzheimers cases are different and don't have to reflect in this case, what went in Iris Murdoch's mind.

I have to give credit to the director, Mr. August, who has not taken the easy approach and documents the progress in a very dignified manner.

All the performances are on key. The extended families of these couple are very strong behind the parents, which is something very rare to find these days.

While `A song for Martin' is a powerful movie, it is also a sort of impotent one. One of the hobbyhorses of my high school literature teacher was to make us understand the difference between what is tragic and dramatic. A car accident is tragic. A car going over a cliff driven by someone fulfilling his inescapable destiny is drama. Alzheimer's is a tragic disease, but it is not drama. Unavoidable is not a substitute for inescapable. You cannot have drama without participation while participation is the last thing you can expect from someone suffering from the disease. This is a very well made movie. Acting is superb; cinematography is fine. I learned from it everything I would ever care to know about Alzheimer's, but I still left the theatre with an empty feeling. The story is sad, the loss is painful and love conquers everything but I had no revelations. I received information, from which I only gained knowledge, not real gut wrenching understanding. I never cared much about acted documentaries and this film never really rose above that.

`A song for Martin' has a very promising start. Passionate love at the age of 50/60 is full of dramatic potential. For a while I thought that is what the movie will be about, but I was wrong. There are hints of dramatic conflict but they are never explored and from the moment Martin is diagnosed, the story turns purely didactic. Dealing with such a situation also has dramatic potentials but this movie choose to concentrate on the evolution of the illness. Is that bad? I don't know, but gaining this sort of knowledge is not what I expect from art.

Should you see this movie? I think so. You will learn a lot about the illness most of us fear the most. Just do not expect more. See it for what it is: an animated illustration of the disease. For that, it is perfect.

(2001) A Song For Martin/ En sång för Martin (In Swedish with English subtitles) DRAMA

Co-written, co-produced and directed by Bille August with senior violinist, Barbara (Viveka Seldahl) and music composer/ conductor Martin choosing to leave their long time potential spouses to marry each other, and it isn't long "Martin" the title of the movie is referring to, begins to show some of the first signs of alzheimer's, forcing Barbara's hand to make adjustments.

"A Song for Martin" may be the first movie that addresses alzheimer's but it's not the best to address the problem as I thought "Away From Her" was far superior as it does not let the character who suffers from the disease continue to humiliate himself on front of people, for it's already bad enough that he suffers from it.

A film to learn from - in many, many ways. And a difficult film to watch. It moved me a lot. More shocking than any thriller. It reminds me of my own great fear of getting ill in this way. Or my wife for that matter. Terrible. And must terrible is, that this disease makes you another person - and you can't do anything in order to prevent it - besides living in perfect harmony.

The actors were great. And the music. And the nice pictures from the seaside, where the couple lived.

Just one (big) complain: The symbol in the end is too heavy and spoiling. Her life must go on: she starts the clock again. Come on ...