Queen at Sea
A daughter (Juliette Binoche) arrives at the home of her mother, who has dementia, and her husband, only to find them in bed together. She is shocked. Does a person with dementia have the right to have sex?
The flame of life does not fade even by the twilight of dementia. Lance Hammer’s haunting portrait of love in the golden years is interpreted by a brilliant cast: Juliette Binoche, Tom Courtenay and Anna Calder-Marshall.
Amanda (Juliette Binoche) is shocked to see her mother Leslie (Anna Calder-Marshall) and her stepfather Martin (Tom Courtenay) in action in bed. Leslie has dementia and is according to the official diagnosis no longer capable of consent. Amanda alerts the police, and the machinery of society is set in motion, which she soon regrets.
Big questions arise. Desire or abuse? Home or nursing home? Self-determination or forced help? The climax in drama, satire and humour is when an interview with social welfare authorities affirms love. Martin asks Amanda if she understands what it is like when the aim is to forget that the next step is death. Should one spend the rest of one’s days drugged in a nursing home or at home, where the healing powers of nature and walks with a loving husband are at hand. Binoche’s face reads like a multi-layered novel as she begins to realize what she has set in motion. Courtenay and Calder-Marshall, veterans whose careers started in the 1960s, throw themselves fearlessly into their daunting roles.
Antti Alanen
Screenings
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Maxim 2Sat 19.9. at 18.30–20.31121 min, 1/3
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Maxim 1Mon 21.9. at 20.00–22.01121 min, 2/3
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Kinopalatsi 5Sun 27.9. at 13.00–15.01121 min, 3/3