Loving Lampposts (2011/Cinema Libre)/A Mother’s
Courage (2010/First Run Features DVD)
Picture:
C Sound: C+ Extras: C+/C Main Programs: B
Autism is
a condition people have heard of, but they still do not full understand it over
20 years after Barry Levinson’s Rain Man
(1988) was an international smash hit and there was hope help or a cure or
whatever had to be done would be done.
There has been some progress, but not enough and two new documentaries
show us what has happened and what needs to be done.
Todd
Drezner’s Loving Lampposts (2011) is
the story about how the Director strived to help his autistic son out, made him
happy and finds out that one of the reasons things are not moving along is
because there is a debate as to whether it is a disease, mental condition, both
or maybe something else or a combination of any of those. This includes concerns that vaccinations may
be causing autism as HMOs have taken over medical care too much, the actual
vaccines are not individually packaged making them more problematic and
possible mercury used in at least some of them.
The result is a much-needed discussion and about what is really going on
and why there needs to be much, much more of a public discourse and awareness
to get a hold of this phenomenon.
Kate
Winslet narrates Fridrik Thor Fridriksson’s A Mother’s Courage (2010) which adds to the discussion and shows us
another family’s journey with an autistic child and how they find treatment for
their son as well. Roughly 75% of all
children born autistic are male. Margret
travels all over (including to the U.S.
and Europe) to get help for her son Keli,
finally finding some and we see how difficult and triumphant this can be. Several experts are interviewed as well,
along with great people helping out and the increasingly famous Dr. Temple
Grandin (who was born with Autism and is now hugely successful in her field)
who has the most remarkable insights of all.
These are
fine programs to be seen together and are highly recommended for everyone so we
can all understand this so we can eventually render its power to hurt people
and ruin lives as powerless. We all
deserve that.
The anamorphically
enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on both programs are well edited, but there are
aliasing errors and other softness issues to expect (some of the footage is
also older archival footage), so they are mixed in this respect but very
watchable. Both also have Dolby Digital
2.0 Stereo tracks, though Courage
adds a Dolby 5.1 mix that is a slim improvement. Extras include extended interviews on Lampposts and weblink resources on Courage.
For more,
try this link on the Temple Grandin
telefilm:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10219/Temple+Grandin+(2010/HBO+DVD)
- Nicholas Sheffo
