Twitch And Shout

At the annual Tourette Syndrome Conference, one attendee says she can "tic up a storm," and nobody will care. It's a rare luxury, since the baffling neurological disorder's symptoms range from uncontrollable tics to involuntary swearing--the titular twitching and shouting which people with the syndrome have in widely varying degrees. Photojournalist Lowell Handler and filmmaker Laurel Chiten, both of whom have Tourette's, have teamed up to make an exceptionally engaging documentary which doesn't preach, plead, blame, or excuse. Through interviews and photographs, Handler introduces us to some of the people he's met with Tourette's: a professional NBA basketball star who yelps and jerks on the court, but is also one of the league's premier free-throw shooters because of his intense concentration; a singer whose eyebrow tic led many men at a restaurant where she was waitressing to believe she was giving them the come on; a Canadian artist who thrashes around his studio doing a clay sculpture while the model sits perfectly still; and folks at the Tourette Syndrome Conference, where one attendee sports a sweatshirt proclaiming "it's bitchin' to be twitchin'." Don't misunderstand, Twitch and Shout is not a comedy. Those afflicted with TS suffer a peculiar hell that we can only dream of: the schizophrenic may act strangely in public and draw stares (but he or she is not aware that the behavior is odd); the person with TS, on the other hand, is totally conscious of--but helpless to alter--his or her behavior in the public sphere. But this is where Twitch and Shout is truly valuable: it enlightens us--in the full meaning of the word--by throwing the light of understanding on what we don't know and therefore often fear. A powerful film that makes you laugh and cry. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (R. Pitman)