Para Lembrar um Grande Amor

Joanne Woodward and Richard Kiley were superb in their roles as Barbara, the afflicted victim of the dreaded disease, and her loving, supportive husband, George. My heart really went out to them. I practically felt their suffering and pain. I wanted to help them myself. I felt like giving them, especially George, advice. They portrayed a happily married couple. Barbara was a college professor. And then BOOM!!!! Alzheimer's disease. Geraldine Fitzgerald, who portrayed Barbara's mother, Lorraine, was especially a heart-breaker, since she had to see her own daughter suffer the way she did. Though I am not a mother, I could still imagine her torment. It is just like watching your own child die, except this was worse--seeing your own daughter slipping into mentally incapacitation and you simply CANNOT to do anything about it. You are completely helpless. All the characters were and I, personally, felt so horribly bad for them, being they were a happy, well-adjusted family! However, I felt the conclusion, though I do NOT want to give it away, was ineffectual and inadequate. I knew it would NOT end on a positive note, but I was still disappointed. However, the acting was so authentic, believable, and convincing, that I actually felt like saying a prayer for this "family."

As many have no doubt observed, and perhaps for the few who do not know, this lovely, talented actress, someone so many of us adore, is now suffering from Alzheimer's and required 24/7 care, so I've read. That saddens me deeply, on so many levels, but because I've always really loved this lady, and her films. As for the irony in the title of the this film, I've also read that all she remembers of the fifty plus years she spent with Paul is that she was once married to someone "handsome." As indeed he was. This is not a film review, and may be disqualified on that point, but a paean to a southern girl, who lit up our lives for so many years. Forever in our affections.

The plot is maudlin, but the performance by Ms Woodward is the best *ever* performance of someone acting as mentally ill. I spent a couple of years of my professional life observing patients with dementia as they sank further into mental oblivion and Ms Woodward was so convincing I found myself at several points reaching for a note pad to make case notes. The classic mistake often made by actors portraying people with dementia is either to look vacant or act forgetful. Both are part of what's required, of course, but there is a great deal of subtlety required as well and Ms Woodward is more than up to the task. It's not the happiest movie you'll ever see, but the failure to release this gem on DVD while a plethora of lesser drivel gets released on a daily basis is a great pity.

This movie was released by Hallmark, in T.V. format nearly 1 year after we learned that my father had contracted Alzheimer's Disease.

Naturally, we were searching for any and all information we could find to help my father, and the family, deal with this devastating disease. As I watched, I was Amazed at the similarities between the behavior of the main character of this movie (played by Ms Woodward) and my father's own behavior at the time. It was like I was watching my own father on television.

As the movie progressed, I came to the realization that my father had contracted a disease that would eventually take his life. For the next few years, as we watched this disease consume him, the movie would flash back anew in my mind and helped to guide me through this. My father finally succumbed to the disease 19 days after his birthday in 1992, 8 years after we first learned he had it. By the time he did, like in the movie, he had forgotten his family. I went to see him 3 days before his death. He had no idea who I was but he held my two year old son in his lap and played with him like a child himself. I was 800 miles from home when I got the call that said he had passed away, which really came as a shock to me, knowing I had seen him happy and playing with my son just 3 days earlier.

I never got to say goodbye to him but I have thanked the Lord above many times for sending this movie when he did to help me get through the ordeal.

This very day, it has been announced that Glen Campbell has contracted this devastating disease. I highly recommend that his family find a copy of this movie and watch it closely, it will help them through it.

I highly recommend it for anyone who has come in contact with this disease and sincerely hope one day a cure can be found for it.

Do You Remember Love (1985)

*** (out of 4)

Joanne Woodward picked up her third Emmy win for this TV movie where she plays a poet/teacher who is slowly losing her battle with Alzheimer's disease. Richard Kiley plays her husband who must come to terms with the fact that he doesn't recognize the woman he originally fell in love with. The performances by the two leads are what really makes this film worth seeing as it's screenplay doesn't really have enough working for it to the movie to really succeed but fans of the two stars are going to get plenty here to make the film worth watching. Woodward really shines in her role as she is forced to play all sorts of different emotions and feelings as her character goes through a lot throughout the film. She has to play it bright, quiet and intelligent but then change on a dime to someone more abusive and argumentative. I thought Woodward did a terrific job at not being overly stagy or fake and I found every note of her performance to hit the right mark. She's so believable in the role that you never feel like you're watching an actress but instead you feel as if you're seeing a documentary about someone with the disease. I've read several reviews that seem to overlook Kiley but that's a shame because he's just as impressive. The scene where he finally crashes and loses his cool about having to take care of someone who acts like they're two years old is extremely effective. I think the biggest problem with the film is its screenplay, which doesn't do that good of a job with the supporting characters. I found most of the supporting characters to be extremely poorly written because they're just used as one-dimensional items. We have the son who is staying away because he's scared. We have the mom who just wants to know what's going on. We have the co-worker who is jealous of her success and wants to see her fail. All of this would be fine but the characters just pop up to give speeches or minor melodrama that never really works. Still, the two lead performances are why people are going to be drawn to this film and they're reason alone to watch the film.