Eskimo Day

Seemingly unprepossessing as it opens, _Interview Day_ (it was aired under this title by WGBH) gains humor, irony, and depth as it follows the anxious introduction of three young applicants to Cambridge University and the visit to a nursing home of one of the interviewing faculty along with his reluctant father (a retired don). It explores the limits of reach of the family, even the most loving family, as an adolescent or elderly parent moves beyond its power to protect.

As each family approaches this reality the caregivers attempt, sometimes comically, sometimes painfully, always awkwardly, to navigate the transition along with their loved one. Ultimately they realize that they cannot. But this misses the humane, hopeful attitude brought to the film by all involved. People (most people at least) are open to learning from change and to finding the best in it.

A moment of pure magic occurs when Neil's ditzy, superstitious mother experiences an epiphany of loss as she watches her son head in for his interview, and he (not knowing quite why) turns to wave goodbye. Something has moved, all have felt it, but Shani (the intuitive of the group) is the one who understands what it means. It is an intimation of mystery, of workings beyond anyone's ken, and for those with faith, of reassurance.