This film is composed
of several intertwined stories questioning the meaning of life, love, hope and
should there be intervention? It
is based on a true story and the
setting is during the last six days in the life of Eluana Englaro. She is a young woman who spent 17 years
in a vegetative state. Eluana was
from Lecco, she was born on November 1970 and she died February 9, 2009. She entered a persistent vegetative
state on January 18, 1992 at the age of 39 years old following a car
accident. Her father fought to
have her feeding tube removed and he said it would be a dignified end to his
daughter’s life. It was debated in
court and her father’s request was denied on December 1999 and in April 2005. The Milan Court of Appeal declared on
July 9, 2008 that her father and legal guardian was allowed to suspend feeding
and hydration. The nuns caring for
Eluana since 1994 in Lecco stated they were willing to continue their usual
charitable treatment. They asked
her father to leave her to them and forget her. He considered her to be dead but they considered her to be
alive. Her father had her
transferred to another hospital in order to have her feeding halted. The Supreme Court of Cassation awarded
Eluana’s father the right to stop his daughter from being fed November 13,
2008. This ruling was met with
immediate criticism from the Roman Catholic Church.
Eluana’s father Beppino Englaro waited until all appeals
were concluded before he suspended the feeding of his daughter in February
2009. On February 6, 2009, Prime
Minister Silvio Berlusconi issued a decree to force the continuation of the
treatment of Eluana. All of Italy was informed
and again thrust in a constitutional crisis. President Giorgio Napolitano refused to sign the decree
initiated by Berlusconi. It was then reported to all of Italy that Eluana died at 19:35 on February 9, 2009. An autopsy at the private nursing house
certified that the withholding of nutrition caused her death. It also stated that Eluana’s brain had
been irreparably damaged and compromised showing diffuse axonal injury. This type of brain injury occurs after
a traumatic brain damage and is a major cause of unconsciousness and a
persistent vegetative state. Also,
her lungs showed signs of degeneration. Pulmonary complications are common with severe brain
injuries. It seems surprising to
me that Eluana Englaro is the basis for this film but she is not shown at all? More emphasis is placed on the
disagreements over what the outcome should be than the person of Eluana? A mother has a daughter in a persistent
vegetative state and there is conflict between the mother’s decision, the
father’s wishes and what the brother thinks. There is a woman in the hospital and she wants to kill
herself but a doctor is staying with her to keep her from jumping out of
the window. 3* (This movie was OK)
115 min,
Drama directed and written by Marco Bellocchion with Toni Servillo, Isabelle
Huppert, Alba Rohrwacher, Michele Riondino, Maya Sansa, Pier Giorgio
Bellocchio, Gianmarco Tognazzi, Brenno Placido, Fabrizio Falco, Gigio Morra,
Fedrica Fracassi, Roberto Herlitzka.
Note: Imdb 6.3 out of 10, Rotten Tomatoes 83
% critic 39% audience, Slant Magazine 2 ½* out of 4* Jesse Cataldo, Metacritic
72 out of 100 with 12 critics, Amazon 3.9* out of 5* with five reviews.
Special
Note: Filmed in ASP La Quiete, Azienda
Agricola Foffani, Clauiano; Autogrill Gonars Nord, Gonars; Palazzo Morpurgo; Hotel
Cristallo; Cividale del Fruli; Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Udine, Italy. Several scenes were shot outside the
real nursing home in Udine where Eluana was moved and her feeding
discontinued. Some of the extras
playing the protesters were the same people who protested in 2009. Eluana is not depicted in the film as a
character and neither are any of her family members. From the onset of filming the production of this film caused
an anguished debate in Friuli Venezia Giulia over the subject matter. The Region board tried to prevent the
production company from receiving the allocated funds from the local Film
Commission. There was also a
much-criticized decision to suppress the entire Friuli Venezia Giulia Film
Commission. Filming took place over ten weeks, seven in Fruiuli Venezia Giulia
and three in Rome.
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