Clark, Brian: 1932 - 2021
Movie - Whose Life Is It Anyway?, 1981
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- Information from Internet Movie Data Base:, 1981, directed by John Badham, starring Richard Dreyfuss and John Cassavetes.
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An early protest against medical paternalism, this carefully made film offers a rich view of its main subject and touches on many others. Ken's wish to refuse vital treatment is based on his own interpretation of his accident. Having lost his kind of love and his kind of work, this strong-minded man refuses to accept substitutes--love without sensuality, work that is not sculpting. Selfhood is also a strong factor in his refusal to continue life in an institution in which most staff members treat him as if he were not a real person. The film's plot turns on a legal decision, but the film argues more broadly through its details that Ken's situation is, for him, insupportable, and that he should have control of his treatment. Yet Dreyfuss plays Ken sympathetically, with feeling and wit, and part of us hates to see him win. The film does justice to our ambivalence. Finally, the film offers a fascinating study of some uses of humor in medical situations and many opportunities to discuss healer-patient relatioships.
Excerpeted with permission from NYU Langone Medical Center - John Badham, the director, talks about the movie
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