Assisted Living (2002)
Filmmaker Elliot Greenbaum had a
brilliant idea. As a frustrated filmmaker myself I
understand that one of the main stumbling blocks is
how to get actors who will work for free and how to
get them to commit to be at the same set every day
for days on end. Greenbaum circumnavigated this problem
with the brilliance of a wizard. Find a captive group
of performers and set the film at where they are held.
His film, "Assisted Living," takes place at a nursing
home, is filmed at a nursing home and uses many of
the residents of the nursing home as performers and
extra. It's brilliant.
At first, the film had me fretting
that it was going to be problematic. Greenbaum has
worked in the documentary field, so he opens his films
with voyeuristic shots of the residents of a nursing
home going about their daily lives. The film looks
and feels like a documentary and one wonders what
we are in store for. Then his film slips into narrative
and Todd, a nursing home employee is introduced. Todd
gets high on his way to work and immediately one begins
to fear that the film is going to be one of those
hip and trendy wannabee flicks where some cynical
pothead slacker works at a nursing home and thinks
its funny to fuck with old people. Or that there will
be a lot of jokes about old people shitting their
pants and puking up medication. Luckily, Greenbaum
has no such vulgarity on his mind.
Greenbaum is presenting a story
here but he does it within a context of the documentary
meets a narrative. There are documentary style interviews
with the staff and then story elements inserted using
Todd and one particular resident, an older lady. There
are also marvelous and profoundly beautiful coverage
shots of the residents here. The camera will often
focus on a skeletal hand, bones covered by skin covered
with liver spots; the image is jarring. But Greenbaum
presents it in such a loving and monumental way that
we can't help but see the beautiful tragedy that is
the ageing of the human body. The film may have a
well-worn and typical narrative structure but the
unusual idea of the narrative and the poetic, loving
nature of the images make this film rise up above
its rather standard narrative filmmaking devices.
Not to say that there aren't problems.
The cinematography during the interview shots are
particularly lacking. The screening I attended had
many focus problem during these shots. I though perhaps
it was a technical error with the projector or projectionist,
but when other shots would appear, these problems
would disappear leaving me to assume it was the print
and not the projector with errors.
In addition to the gentle and sweet
film images here, Greenbaum scores the film with perfect
music from Hub Moore. It's just another part of the
puzzle that makes this film a success. Likewise, the
casting is quite well done as well with the male and
female leads becoming more and more engrossing as
the film plays out.
"Assisted Living" is a quiet and
graceful film and one that treats its story and its
characters with the reverence they deserve. But even
more appealing about this film is the gift it surely
became to the residents of the nursing homes where
it was filmed. Given a chance to take part in a project
that worked within the boundaries of their needs,
the residents must have been quite delighted with
the visitors and quite eager to take part in the filmmaking
process. The filmmakers must have been a welcomed
sight every time there arrived. The film is a welcome
sight in the current glut of mean-spirited, wannabee,
low-budget independent films made by college students
who think the world is rife with things to poke fun
at. Greenbaum knows there are things in this world
to cherish and honor as well.
Note:
The film credits the residents of
the Masonic Homes of Kentucky. Greenbaum is from Louisville.
Viewed in Austin in March at 2003
SXSW Film Festival
