Daughter of Suicide

With a surprisingly even hand for someone who not only acknowledges her mother's 1987 suicide as the single most defining moment of her life but also admits to suffering daily from the depression that was her mother's legacy, filmmaker Dempsey Rice here manages to channel complex emotions into an unflinching exploration of suicide and its effect on herself and her family. Using first-person narrative and a combination of digital video, 16mm, and Super 8mm film, Rice weaves interviews of family members together with photographs and memorabilia from their collective past, resulting in an impressionistic yet accessible portrait of family grief and the emotions--anger, fear, guilt and blame--that surround suicide. The film also serves as a therapeutic process for Rice, who uses the medium as a canvas, therapist and tape recorder, to address painful, unresolved emotions (particularly revealing is the vulnerable commentary from her father and sister, and the words of her mother, a psychotherapist, whose self-analytical autobiography and note from a previous suicide attempt foreshadow her impending self-destruction). On a personal level, Rice's brave confrontation of her mother's ghost is a testament to the healing power of self-expression; on a broader scale, Daughter of Suicide is a meaningful exploration of the larger mental health issues surrounding depression and suicide. Highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (A. Cantú)