|
MUST READ AFTER MY DEATH Send This Review to a Friend
When filmmaker Morgan Dews’ grandmother Allis died, she left behind a trove of recordings and home movies to be examined after her death. When someone keeps so much revealing material, the person must intend it as a way of being heard. Whether or not Allis hoped to reach beyond her family, Dews has assembled the material into a riveting cry from the dead. By cleverly giving voice to the turbulent family life captured by Allis in the throes of living it, Dews has given us nothing less then a disturbing portrait of a highly dysfunctional family, within which a woman is attempting to find her place as a wife and mother with great difficulty. Allis is shattered by what she must go through in the real-life role she is playing, and in a way her record is a feminist statement even though she may not have recognized it as such.
The totally absorbing but upsetting film chronicles a family cauldron in Hartford, Connecticut. We learn of the different personalities, partly through the Dictaphone recordings that were made as a way of keeping Allis and her husband Charlie in touch when he had to make extended trips to Australia. Charlie is a difficult domineering person, and their children are getting messed up as the family relationships implode. There are visits to psychiatrists, and a pattern of emotional mayhem is reflected.
The material Dews came across was labeled by Allis as “Must Read after My Death.” She may not have realized how valuable the revelations would turn out to be in the expert hands of her grandson. But Dews has done his grandmother justice with the savvy way in which he has compiled the source material into a narrative that tells the family saga compellingly. We are made to feel like voyeurs, but more in a clinical way than in an opportunistic manner.
The resulting film is as shocking as it is fascinating. Talk about reality shows. A Gigantic Releasing release.
[Note: In addition to theatrical viewing, the public is able to access the film for digital viewing at www.giganticdigital.com for a ticket price of $2.99 for three-day unlimited viewing. The releasing company reports that it is streaming the film commercial free in up to HD quality, depending on the viewer’s available bandwidth and hardware setup.]
|