Friday, September 17, 2010
MIRACLE CURE?
Today's film was the documentary
A family which includes an autistic five year old takes a long trip to Mongolia when the boy shows interest in horses. Mongolia is the land of horses. And shamans.
This is a disturbing but touching film. My glimpses of autism didn't prepare me for the arduous examination of this child's life and his family's commitment to see things through with him.
His particular symptoms include delusion, temper tantrums and the inability to toilet train. Even one of these would be upsetting enough.
The trip is beautifully photographed and the intimacy of the family's affairs are dealt with in a respectful way.
I think that it is a setup for us to feel the same frustration with the kid's behavior and it works.
By the time they get to the shamans I would be considering just dropping him off on the wilderness and keep on going. Not really. But close.
Then things change as he changes. Or does he change as things change.
We do not know.
The trip changes the family dynamic. The shamans change the paradigm of autism the family has lived with. The exhaustion of the trip brings all to their knees in surrender. The kid gets to play with other kids in a non-judgemental situation.
It is all up in the air which is the case with autism, a complex disease with many "causes".
Fundamentally, no one knows anything. The drugs this kid takes would be enough to make anyone go under. They have forgotten why some of them were given in the first place.
The parents are appealing and loving and show their own weaknesses.
This is a very fine gift of a film. And once is enough.
I will give it a 3 out of Netflix5.
Labels: films
