The Way We Die

Poetic and concise, The Way We Die: Listening to the Terminally Ill is a film about dying told with a light hand, just hinting at the many issues--medical, psychological, spiritual--that death invokes. The video starts with an interview with Margaret Mohrmann, a thoughtful doctor who learned that the wishes of the family of the dying should preempt the medical procedures that merely postpone death. Then the camera turns to four stories of terminally ill people and those who love them. The filmmaker made the remarkable decision not to tell us what diseases the four have, forcing us to consider each case from the purest perspective. One man discusses his guilt over seeing his wife's life diminished by his illness. The mother of a gaunt man must ask her son everyday whether his quality of life is high enough to justify its continuance. These stories are told largely with real footage, and therefore real sentiment. The Way We Die would be a suitable starter for a discussion of euthanasia. It is more meditative than When Doctors Get Cancer (VL-9/95), but twice as expensive. Still, eye-opening viewing for health care providers or ethicists. Aud: C, P. (A. Laker)