The Genius of Marian

When filmmaker Banker White started filming in 2009, his 61-year-old mother, Pamela White—a former model and social worker—was working on a book about her own mother, painter Marian Williams Steele. Pam would abandon the project after she found out she had Alzheimer's disease—the same illness that led to Steele's death in 2001. Banker continued to document his mother's life over the next three years. At first, Pam refuses to acknowledge the diagnosis even as she loses the ability to drive and read books, although she still meets regularly with her singing group. She also rejects having a professional caregiver, so her husband, Ed, opts to work from home in order to look after her. Ed says he doesn't mind, but as the years pass, resentment begins to kick in, since he has to help his wife with almost everything. The children do what they can, but Ed still feels isolated (the couple refer to each other as “Mom” and “Dad,” which says something about their passion for parenting). Pam doesn't want to end up in a facility like her mother, but she does finally learn to accept some outside help. The Genius of Marian is not an easy film to watch, and the handheld camerawork can feel invasive, but there is real psychological value in this profile, which not only never sugarcoats the debilitations of Alzheimer's, but also underscores the toll that the illness takes on friends and relatives. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (K. Fennessy)