Last night we went to the 'hometown' screening of "The Bath," a short film by our friend Mark Lundsten. In the fabulous Lincoln theater in Mount Vernon which deserves its own blog post. Mark's second film. Twice as long (25 minutes) as his first film "A priest walks into a bar" and a cut above. Neither of these films are 'amateur' production, he uses professional services throughout. He wrote as well as directed this film.
The film portrays an elderly woman suffering from dementia and its effect on her family memgbers. It inspired some difficult discussions between Dennis and myself, regarding the transition of his mother Lanaya from the care of his father into a care facility. Dennis' father was determined to care for his wife for how long it would take. But it had long gotten past the time when he was able to do it. By the time she entered a care facility, she was in a state of neglect. What could we have done differently? We, including myself, were complicit. Dennis urged his father to 'get help' but did so respectfully leaving the choice up to him. Rather than ordering it. Was that the right thing?
Part of the plot line involves the elderly mother refusing to take a bath or to change her clothes. That happened in our family also.
One fun piece I learned was that the house scenes were filmed in an older home owned by CB who makes her home available for films. Whoa, I know her! And she was in the same group several years ago where I met Mark. Mark laughingly told me that they had figured that out.
Dennis said when he got home that he would love to be part of a film production. Maybe to be on the set next time. "I take direction well," he says, "I could help somehow."
I found this picture from the funding site showing filmaking in action. Mark is standing at center left.
Could happen!
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