50/50: Laughing through a fight with cancer

The general mood that follows the onset of a terminal disease like cancer is one which is downcast and solemn. Whether being inflicted by the disease personally or having a loved one around you who has the disease, it casts a shadow every time your thoughts go in the direction of the disease. It is a grave illness and claims many lives in its different forms. So, ideally, humour would not be associated with cancer. But that is where the 2011 film 50/50 breaks the norm.

Adam is a very focused and hard working individual who plies his trade at a radio station. He believes strongly in his work and likes it to be perfect before it goes on air. He has a loving mother, who takes care of his dad day-and-night because of his Alzheimer’s disease. He also has a happy-go-lucky, morally-unbound best friend Kyle and a girlfriend Rachael who spends most of her time with Adam at his house but stays away from physical pleasures with him. Adam is a careful person; he does not own a car for fear of having an accident and never learned how to drive which leaves him dependent on his family and friends to escort him everywhere he needs to go. In this mix, Adam visits a doctor for a backache and is revealed to have a tumour in his back of a rare form of cancer called schwannoma neurofibrosarcoma. Adam’s world slowly crumbles as he faces the cancer and treatment with the help of his family and friends while learning who really cares about him and will stand by him through thick and thin.

The premise of the film is about a guy with cancer who deals with life as it is thrown at him. But what makes the film brilliant is the way in which it has been dealt. Although it would be presumed that any humour involving a serious illness such as cancer would be black comedy, the film deals with the illness and its seriousness with poise. The humour is subtle with the protagonist and his best friend being the main vessels. As the protagonist opens to his condition and accepts it, his friend introduces him to new ideas whereby he can take advantage of his illness to procure medical marijuana and get compassion from women for one-night stands. As such, there is no disrespect towards the illness and people who suffer from it.

Although Joseph-Gordon Levitt plays the role of the protagonist well, the show is stolen by Seth Rogen in the supporting role. Rogen is actually cast as himself in a script written by Will Reiser based loosely on his own experience with cancer when Rogen helped him combat the illness just as Kyle does with Adam in the film. A tip of the hat also goes to Anna Kendrick who has played the role of the relatively inexperienced and awkward therapist who coaches Adam as he struggles with his illness.

The film deserves accolades and may actually be worth a rating which is better than it has received thus far. At the very least, it deserves to be watched a few times.

Liv & Ingmar: A broken love story that inspired greatness

When verifying facts, to state that the fact has come directly from a very reliable source, we use the term ‘straight from the horse’s mouth’. To put it simply, the phrase implies that the information received is guaranteed to be correct since it is firsthand without having to fall under the scrutiny of any Chinese whispers. Straight from the horse’s mouth is the most appropriate words that can be used to describe Liv & Ingmar, a documentary about the relationship between famous actress Liv Ullman and highly acclaimed Swedish director Ingmar Bergman.

The docu-drama is inspired by Ullman’s autobiography titled Changing. After reading about the relationship between Bergman and Ullman, as told by Ullman, director Dheeraj Akolkar was impressed and decided to track down the source to dig deeper into their lives and find more information about the famous director and his muse. This voyage is what turns into the documentary titled ‘Liv & Ingmar’ where Liv Ullman speaks about her years with and without Ingmar Bergman, the lives they led and the happy and troublesome times they faced. The documentary is spliced with stock footage from home videos, old Bergman films and a few shots and scenes for dramatic effect, accompanied by an interview with Ullman and a substitute narration for Bergman.

To dig deeper into the life and nuances of one of the most influential filmmakers in the world of cinema, this documentary is a great insight. The theme of the documentary covers more of the personal lives and relationship of the two, eventually turning into an emotional rollercoaster as was the relationship between Ullman and Bergman. It only briefly touches on the aspects of Bergman’s work but the inseparable nature of their relationship means that every moment Bergman spent with Ullman eventually landed up being part of his inspiration for his great films.

From a completely impartial standpoint, it provides a deep look into two lives which were completely entwined, torn apart, revolved around each other gently and ultimately tied them down together as close as people can get.