Lily and Paul summon their loved ones to their beach house for one final gathering before Lily decides to end her long battle with ALS. The couple plans a loving weekend complete with holiday traditions, but the mood becomes strained when unresolved issues surface between Lily and her daughters Jennifer and Anna.
There is clearly a new topic that Hollywood likes to talk about; euthanasia. This is the second film to be released within a month about ending one's life early due to a terminal illness. Unlike Supernova, which dementia as a vehicle for discussing the topic, Blackbird uses amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. A disease that slowly weakens muscles until movement and even swallowing is no longer possible.
Euthanasia has only just recently become something that the mainstream media and general public have a majority deciding the process is ethical. There is still a large number of people who are against it, however, and that is where this film gets its controversial edge. There are many conflicting views (religiously, ethically, and morally) but it is at the stage of indecision where both sides can still promote a genuine debate.
Blackbird comes with an ensemble cast including Sam Neill, Mia Wasikowska, Lindsey Duncan, Kate Winslet, Rainn Wilson, and Susan Sarandon. In almost a political move, Director Roger Michell is unflinching in the view that the film requires a lot of big names to generate enough of an audience. In a manner of speaking, Michell is not wrong, as while Blackbird is thought-provoking, its venture into the darker side of drama is unnerving and surprisingly cold.
The veteran status of many of the actors is clear and shows in their performances. There is no bad acting to be seen; simply awkward situations, awkward characters, and often unlikeable personalities. Nevertheless, these characters come across as real, developed people; flawed people that have their own battles with illness and selfishness.
With the very simple premise of somebody with a terminal disease wishing to end their life, it leaves a lot of room for dramatic elements around the various family members coming to terms with that idea. In fact, there is so much space for content, that scriptwriter Christian Torpe starts the film at what thematically is at the endpoint, where the family has already come to terms with the premise, and completely breaks it again, muddying the water, before attempting to regain the status quo.
Susan Sarandon absolutely steals the spotlight with her portrayal of someone suffering from a terminal, incurable disease, someone who is at peace with the idea of choosing the terms of her own death. While I lack the personal experience to judge the performance based on its accuracy to the ALS disease, what is so well executed is the balance of debilitation.
Walking the line portraying a person who is terminally ill enough in a visual sense; not so badly that the entire audience would immediately agree she needs to be put out of her misery, but also not fit and cheerful enough that one would disagree with her terminal diagnosis. Right in the sweet spot of contention, and her afflictions are inconsistent enough to validate every character's concerns.
What works really well in Blackbird is the grounded nature of the film. There are a number of elements that are used to create conflict in the film but Michell and Torpe don't go overboard. there was potential to bring in several other plot points that were quite strongly alluded to, but no matter what the source of conflict, everything remains centred around its effect on the central premise.
At no point did the audience get dragged deep into the rabbit hole. Several times, we were treated to a peek inside, but then we were brought back to the main story and how it all relates. Nothing in the film is allowed to take you away from the central discussion of euthanasia and whether someone with a terminal disease has the right to choose when and how they will die.
From a cinematography standpoint, this is very little to talk about, mostly straightforward wide shots with a few close-ups for emotional scenes, but it's generally nothing fancy; nothing that will take the spotlight away from the various valid perspectives of this dying woman and her family. The music is minimal with many moments in the film simply bathed in complete silence, and emphasizes the experiences of the family. That awkwardness and inability to know how to deal with the scenario.
All in all, Blackbird is not really here to be enjoyed. This is a vehicle for understanding the concept of voluntarily losing someone prematurely. Letting someone choose to end their life while they are still a positive association in your life; before they become the drain, a burden, a thing that is no longer recognizable as the person they once were.
Would you let someone die a hero, or have them live long enough to become the villain?
Blackbird is in cinemas from March 4, 2021
Originally posted to: https://djin.nz/Kr8810