Multiple

Scottish actress Alison Peebles (Taggart) has long been hiding the fact that she has multiple sclerosis, a disease characterized by a debilitating breakdown of the central nervous system that can lead to partial or full paralysis. For Peebles, the diagnosis could easily have been a career-killer, but rather than bewail her situation, she pushes herself to work hard despite her disability. Co-directed by Peebles and filmmaker Lucinda Broadbent, Multiple combines insights into Peeble's fears of the repercussions from disclosing her condition and imaginative animation sequences based on Peebles' sketches depicting what it feels like to have MS. Eventually, Peebles directs a short dramatic piece called “SMMS,” for her theatre company at the National Theatre of Scotland, which is about a woman with MS who loses her job and becomes a dominatrix, and during the course of rehearsal, Peebles reveals that she has MS. While Multiple is an often touching documentary, the fact that Peebles is covered by the British National Health Service makes her situation very different from what an American might experience, due to pre-existing condition clauses in U.S. medical insurance policies, not to mention the astronomical cost of meds that help ease the pain of MS. A strong optional purchase. Aud: P. (R. Reagan)