Alive Inside

You might think a documentary set in modern hospital-style nursing homes would be depressing. Not so with Michael Rossato-Bennett's Alive Inside, which celebrates the salutary impact of music on patients afflicted with dementia. At the story's center is New York social worker Dan Cohen, who raises funds to provide nursing homes with iPods for distribution to residents suffering from Alzheimer's and other forms of mental debilitation. Cohen's investigations revealed that even residents who were almost completely uncommunicative could be rejuvenated by hearing the songs they loved. But while the project's cost would amount to far less than many prescribed medications, Cohen found that bureaucratic red tape was an insurmountable obstacle, so he began seeking donations to fund Music and Memory, which has provided iPods to nursing homes in a growing number of states. Alive Inside captures amazing sequences of people responding almost miraculously to the sound of music—an apparently somnolent man becomes voluble in response to what he hears through the headphones, while a woman abandons her walker and begins dancing, as does an elderly veteran strapped into a wheelchair. And a woman who is still living in her own home reacts excitedly as her playlist is added to the device. All of this material is joyously inspiring, even if the accompanying narration is frequently banal and cliché-ridden. Still, despite its shortcomings, the film provides a welcome glimpse of an alternative/additional treatment for the ever-growing number of older Americans suffering from dementia. Extras include a director's audio commentary, deleted scenes, a Q&A with Cohen, and an interview with Rossato-Bennett. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)