Alice Howland is a fifty-year-old woman who has managed to achieve all her goals. Her marriage is a happy one: she has adult and responsible children and has a profession, that of university lecturer, which satisfies and gratifies her. Everything seems to be going really well in her life. Suddenly, however, one day, during a lesson, Alice forgets a detail, while explaining. From that moment on, she realizes that she can no longer remember things, and also begins to get mixed up about the simplest daily details. She decides to undergo a thorough medical examination at a neurologist. The diagnosis that she gets precipitates her into despair: in fact she finds herself in the first phase of an early type of Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's, as many people know, is a disease that causes a progressive and irreversible deterioration of memory, attention, concentration, language and thought. As she is aware of the painful journey that destiny has reserved for her, Alice is, despite everything, determined to live one day at a time: she will overcome every obstacle with serenity and consciousness, until the illness will allow it. Only then will she be able to conveniently face the difficult trials that await her, knowing that Alzheimer's will fundamentally change the way she perceives the world, and the way the world perceives her. There will be moments of dejection, deep discomfort, but also of sweetness and joy: Alice, in fact, will find herself surrounded by the intense love, the warmth and the support of her family, which will not leave her alone.
The film, released in 2015, and directed by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland, is a dramatic story based on the homonymous bestseller written in 2007 by Lisa Genova, a professor at Harvard University and a PhD in Neuroscience. The cast includes Julianne Moore in the title role, Alec Baldwin, Kristen Stewart, Kate Bosworth and Shane McRae.
Yes: our lives are made of obstacles, both big and small, and we must never believe that what happens to others does not concern us, because humanity is also us.
An illness, as in the case of Alice, can upset all our certainties, our points of reference apparently stronger.
Alice lives moments of anguish and even manages to plan her suicide, which only by chance she cannot complete. It is those moments that we all live, or that we could live in certain cases, asking ourselves if we will ever make it, if we can see the end of it.
It is no coincidence that this film, so touching and significant, has received well-deserved awards at the Oscars, Golden Globes and BAFTAs, as well as a Critics Choice Award.
Admirable indeed is the effort and the skill of an expert in the field, Doctor Lisa Genova, who was able to put first on the page all the travail of this serious illness.
Doctor Lisa Genova, but also the main performer Julianne Moore, Baldwin and the other actors, as well as the directors and screenwriters, deserve all the due respect and admiration.
STILL ALICE - Official Trailer USA
