If the thought of seeing a film which closely observes an older woman’s life shift into an assisted living home gives you pause, think again. Familiar Touch is a sensitive, moving, humor-speckled, and ultimately humane portrayal of the transitional process and the mercurial mind states of our protagonist with dementia issues. On some level, writer-director Sarah Friedland’s film even qualifies as a “feel good movie” credentials, with art film savvy and a thoughtful sense of style in the margins.
Friedland presents her filmic tale in a patient way, with slow pacing and quiet atmospheres, starting at the story’s start. A prelude to the film finds Ruth in her peaceful house, preparing lunch for her son who, it turns out, she doesn’t remember and who she even flirts with. The title rolls, and she is on her way to her new “home,” on the “Memory Lane” third floor of the Bella Vista assisted living facility. (The film was shot at the actual Villa Gardens facility in Pasadena, with residents and staff involved in Friedland’s research for the film.)
While this film focuses on the challenging conditions of cognitive decline, on a larger scale, Familiar Touch deals directly — but ever so tastefully — with aging and the natural effects thereof. That inherently natural aspect of human existence is a topic rarely broached in cinema, especially in the youth-obsessed realm of American cinema. Amour and The Father are strong examples of bold films chronicling later life issues, although through a darker lens.
Smartly, Friedland keeps a sense of cinematic cool in her storytelling angle, with the help of cinematographer Gabe C. Elder’s sentient imagery. She avoids over dramatics or a musical score (other than the liberating, late-breaking dance scene to Burt Bacharach/Dionne Warwick’s “Don’t Make Me Over”), which humanizes the tale and increases its poignancy. The film deals with a very real and relevant subject, in an unusually sensitive way.
A critical aspect of the film’s success is the dynamically nuanced performance of Kathleen Chalfant as our mentally shape-shifting protagonist Ruth. Her work onscreen is remarkable and innately subtle in the way her degrees of comprehension and alertness vary from scene to scene, moment to moment (not unlike Anthony Hopkins in The Father). Mood shifts, as do states of cognition, clarity, and memory.
As Ruth settles into her new “home,” she develops a friendly bond with an orderly Vanessa (Carolyn Michelle Smith) in the home and the handsome young doctor Brian (Andy McQueen), with whom she secretly imagines a romantic relationship. In one scene, she marches into the facility kitchen and goes to “work” making breakfast, channeling her past experience as a cook. In a scene with the doctor, she lays out an elaborately detailed recipe for borscht and other hyper-specific memories, to prove her presence of mind and memory. “Now if I had,” she points to her head, “would I be able to tell you that?”
In another light-hearted, and light-headed, scene, residents with virtual reality glasses are swaying and swatting at imaginary butterflies (we presume). She removes her glasses, observes the absurdity of the situation and starts an interpretive dance among her laughing floor mates.
Somehow, with Familiar Touch — which won Best Acting and Best Director awards at the Venice International Film Festival — Friedland has managed to juggle elements of “the movies” and the arthouse, broadening the film’s audience appeal. On some levels, she presents a poetic approach to filmmaking: Camera and sound not obsessively focused on a particular center of attention, instead taking in a more generalized ambience. The flow of scenes and shots also take their time and dodge easy or familiar storytelling structuring.
Zooming out, conceptually, that approach manages to mirror the transitory nature of memory loss and cognitive decline, in which linear logic or sense of temporal order aren’t always present. But bursts of clarity amidst the existential confusion thicken the plot and the emotional complexity of the scenarios — for loved ones, caretakers and in this case, moviegoers.
Familiar Touch opens at the Riviera Theatre on Friday, June 27. Following the 7:30 p.m. showing on Monday, June 30, will be an in-person conversation with Writer/Director Sarah Friedland and Actress Kathleen Chalfant.
View trailer here.
In other Riviera Theatre news, a new series is being launched, under the fitting title “Vital Cinema.” The monthly special screening events touch on cinematic classics deserving of another look, in the state-of-the-art, big screen setting of the Riviera. The inaugural offering, a “one night only” affair on Wednesday, June 25, is a 4K restoration of French director Marcel Carné’s epic Children of Paradise (Les enfants du paradis). Info here.
In still more SBIFF news, Tony Award nominee Kathleen Chalfant and Writer/Director Sarah Friedland will appear at a screening of the film on Monday, June 30 at 7:30 p.m. Friedland is an alumni of SBIFF’s 10-10-10 program. She participated in 2009 when she attended Dos Pueblos High School. This is her debut feature film.
