First Cousin, Once Removed

Veteran documentarian Alan Berliner gained permission from his elderly cousin Edwin to chronicle the old man's terminal struggles with Alzheimer's and subsequent progressive memory loss over a five-year period. Although this may sound thoroughly depressing, the film itself is fascinating not least because of a painful twist: Edwin Honig (1919-2011) was a widely published poet, critic, academic and multi-linguist knighted by Spain and Portugal for his English versions of their stage classics. In non-linear edits, viewers witness the terrible dwindling of a luminous literary mind, as Edwin forgets key events and traumas in his past while also regressing to birdlike vocalizations (with some moments of lucidity). During the process, Berliner delivers a warts-and-all biography of the charming, much-honored Honig. The victim of a harsh father, Honig in turn was cold to his growing sons, who remained estranged from him practically to the end (his second wife left him, and she here confesses that she can no longer enjoy poetry). A powerful rumination on the ravaging effects of Alzheimer's, this HBO-aired documentary is highly recommended. (C. Cassady)