Last month, PDF hosted a special screening of the film, A Late Quartet in New York, NY, followed by a conversation with its Director, Yaron Zilberman, PDF Scientific Director Dr. Stanley Fahn and PDF Research Advocate Pam Quinn.
If you haven't yet heard of this film, which is produced by Entertainment One Films, it stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Mark Ivanir and Christopher Walken as a string quartet struggling to stay together in the face of competing egos and ... Parkinson's disease.
As you too often tell us, your neighbors and friends may not truly understand the disease. So when a film puts a spotlight on Parkinson's disease, it is an opportunity to give Parkinson's a name, to let people know the realities of the disease. It's the same reason we all work so hard to raise the profile of Parkinson's disease all year long, particularly during April's Parkinson's Awareness Month.
We would really love to hear your reactions to the film, and its portrayal of Parkinson's disease. Have you seen it? Click here to find a list of screenings.
To start us off, here are a few questions and observations, from PDF:
- Diagnosis: What did you think of the moment when Christopher Walken's character is diagnosed with PD? To many viewers, his silence, followed by a simple "wow" seemed to hit home effectively, communicating a variety of emotions with just one word. Is this similar or different to your own reaction to your diagnosis or a loved one's diagnosis of PD?
- Exercise: You may recognize PDF's own Research Advocate Pam Quinn in the film. She portrays an instructor in an exercise class for people with Parkinson's. In this scene, she talks about how the movements in PD get smaller and smaller, and so people have to make them bigger and bigger. Some viewers pointed this out as a favorite scene. Do you agree? Why or why not?
- Retirement: The time frame of the film seems fairly short, with Christopher Walken's character retiring rather quickly after his diagnosis. Clearly, as a musician his physical dexterity is a very important part of his job. What do you think about the timing of his retirement? How does this cause you to reflect upon the impact of PD on your career?
Jane: It sure rings true for me! I was dxed with PD over three years ago and I was a concert violist. Due to the tremor in my right hand I can no longer play the way I used to and have had to retire from professional viola playing. It is a great loss and have suffered depression as a result. I have had to accept the fact that I can only play simple music, now. This illness has really impacted my life more than it would have if I had not been a musician.
Thanks to all who joined us in New York City for the screening.
Posts
7 comments:
I would love to see the film. Both my husband and I have Parkinson's disease. Can you bring it to Wisconsin?
Is there ever a possibility of bringing it to Wisconsin? Both my husband and I have Parkinson and I'd really like to see it.
Mary, thanks for reading and for posting your question. The only locations we know were due to show the film were on this list (click to download: http://www.pdf.org/pdf/event_late_quartet_theatres.pdf), which unfortunately does not show any theaters in Wisconsin. We can reach out to Entertainment One to see if that has changed.
So this information was posted on Dec 13, 2012. It starts off with "last month, PDF hosted a special screening...." I downloaded the document (from the link in the article) that shows the film locations. That document has a date at the top of November 9th. When I went to the theater that is in our area, Menlo Park Guild, this film is no longer showing. I'm saddened becasue I see this as a missed opportunity for the PD community all over the country, if in fact this movie is no longer in theaters. I guess my question is this: wouldn't it have made sense to send out this information when you did the screening, back in November instead of waiting a month? Sometimes when movies do a limited release, they are 'testing the waters' to see what kind of commercial reaction they get. If they don't get sufficient numbers, then they don't do a general release all across country. I'm not sure if this is the case here,but it certainly is no longer being shown at the theater mentioned in the document. Maybe the information did go out in November and I missed it. But I'm really sorry that I wasn't able to go see this movie.
Thank you for your post. We hope that all who are interested in viewing this film are able to do so. PDF hosted this screening in New York only on November 3, the same weekend that the film opened. We are contacting the folks working on the film to see if any of the locations have changed, or if and when the film will be available for rental online. We will keep you posted once we hear back.
Will this be available through Netflix or other company or organization--rental? Does seem a bit of a waste for those of us who could use the help to miss out on such a seemingly appropriate film.
Netflix will have the movie as of 3/5/13 on DVD. They usually wait quite some time before a movie on DVD is available through streaming.
Post a Comment