One thing at the VIFF is that it’s known for showcasing works from various filmmakers from Canada. There, There is the latest film from Nova Scotia director Heather Brown. It tells of an unlikely friendship of two people.
Ruth is an elderly woman living in her small Halifax home. She is doing the best she can to live her life but she is limited in both her physical ability and her mental ability. She does get home care from a young nurse named Shannon. Shannon helps with Ruth through her daily life and even helps her with playing television bingo and getting bread crumbs for Ruth to mix seeds and feed birds. Feeding birds is a favorite past-time of Ruth. Shannon is roommates with her best friend who is a social media influencer. Sometimes Shannon helps with her videos.
Soon, we learn both women are going through difficulties in their lives. For Ruth, her memory has been declining. She sees a doctor concerned she may be developing dementia. She also notices her house has been getting more insects. She buys bug spray from her local store and tapes dead bugs on paper to show the doctor. She fears the bugs are entering her body. She experiences incontinence one day. As for people in her life, Shannon is the only one who visits and the storekeeper appears to be the only other person who talks to her.
As for Shannon, she’s pregnant. Her boyfriend, who has goals of being a race car driver, has abandoned her. Even blocking her communication from social media messages. Despite that, she’s looking to get her boyfriend to face up. She even goes to the racetrack to no avail. She searches for a lawyer to take him to court once the baby is born. Meanwhile her best friend seems to be more focused on social media than on their friendship.
For a while, the two are able to find the time they need to relax. Ruth is able to make her way to the parks or the street areas where she’s able to feed the birds. Despite her pregnancy, Shannon is able to find time for a night out. The two are also helpful to each other in their own ways. There was one time when Shannon was in tears while nursing and Ruth gives her comfort. Shannon also gave Ruth her phone number in case any problems. Then almost simultaneously, everything changed. Ruth found herself stuck in an unknown place and lost in the night. Around that same time, Shannon goes into labor.
Also simultaneously, both women experience the changes in their lives. Ruth is unfit to live alone anymore. Her dementia has gotten so bad, she now has to be in a nursing home. Shannon has given birth to her daughter. For a period of time, the place she lives in becomes a place for three. Both women also learn the new changes in their lives cause them problems. Ruth may get fed, bathed and included in activities of vitality, but she can’t go out of her nursing home to feed the birds like she used to. The doors are securely locked so none of their residents can leave unassisted. As for other belongings, most of hers are now gone and she relies on donations. One donation bag, she finds a baby doll she keeps. For Shannon, her friend moves out of the place because she finds living with someone else’s baby a discomfort for her life. Shannon is still trying to pursue her boyfriend. One time, she goes to a car wash after spotting him in hopes of confronting him and showing him his child.
One day, a ray of hope. Shannon pays a visit to Ruth at the nursing home. They watch a show together. Shannon brought some bread crumbs and is able to take Ruth out to a park to feed the birds. During the visit, Ruth claims no one has visited her in years. Shannon lets her know she’ll be there. The film ends in a quiet moment with both women at their place of rest and symbolizing how they both share a bond.
This is a film of two types of women who would be seen as getting the short ends of the stick. We have a lonely elderly woman in the last years of her life concerned for her physical and mental well-being, but still trying to life as vital of a life she can. We also have a young woman who’s pregnant sooner than she hoped through a boyfriend that ended up to be irresponsible. In what should be a carefree time in her life, she faces a lot of pressures and frustrations and it’s slowly becoming a discomfort for her roommate. I’m sure you may know a woman in either of these situations. Although it’s a case where they are normally supposed to be associated with each other just as nurse and patient, it becomes a lot more over time. Just as the sudden changes happen for both of them, they reunite and it becomes obvious they have a bond between them. The story becomes a case of two lonely Halifax women of different backgrounds finding a type of unity with each other. It’s as much heartwarming as it is heartbreaking.
Some people may dismiss this as a boring film. It’s important to know when you go to a film not knowing what it’s about or just going to a film because it’s available for you to see, you should welcome what you see and judge once it’s over. From how I’ve seen it, this is a story of two women of two backgrounds that are quite common in our society. The story moves slowly but each scene tells a lot of what the two women are dealing with and how they live their lives at any given point of time. For those that have seen this film, you will notice many scenes where there is no dialogue. It’s likely the scenes were meant to do its own storytelling by imagery instead of words. With each scene without dialogue, it does a very good job of telling its story and creating the scene. The film’s mix of using scenes of dialogue and scenes of wordless imagery help in telling the stories of both women, their separate lives and their unique bond.
It’s been said by many that films should not answer everything about the story. It should have the audience asking questions or forming their answers. What the film shows presents a lot. What the film doesn’t show also presents a lot too. After seeing the film, it did leave me with a lot of questions about both Ruth and Shannon. For Ruth, it had me wondering about her past life. It left me wondering was she ever married? Does she have any family of her own, like surviving siblings, nieces or nephews? How come it’s only Shannon and the storekeeper that treat her like she exists? For Shannon, it leaves me wondering about her present and her future. Will she raise her daughter well? What about her own family? Does she not keep in contact with them? Also will she get her boyfriend to face the music? He owes her and the child. This film is very good in getting me to ask a lot of questions.
As is, this is a very good film by Nova Scotia director Heather Young. This is her fourth film and second feature. She presents a good story of two women who would be overlooked in our society but form a bond not just by one being dependent on the other but sharing a closeness that words don’t need to make present. It’s by the actions, by the moments together and even by the time alone. Young also does a smart job of choosing to have non-actors play the two main roles. Having non-actors helped with the performances here. The performance from Marlene Jewell of the elderly Ruth is very good and very believable. A retired nurse herself, she is probably very familiar with women in this type of setting or situation. She plays the part very believably. Katie Mattatall is also excellent in her role as Shannon. I don’t know of her own life but she played the frustrations of a young abandoned pregnant woman very well and very believably. She makes you feel Shannon’s situation.
There, There is a unique story about two different women who develop a special bond. It’s also a story that tells more in its images than its dialogue. That’s the most unique element of the film.
Jon The Blogcentric 