“It shows dementia as it is” Listen to Keiths thoughtful, touching and deeply personal review of Supernova.

Hi, this is Keith on the Isle of Sheppey.

I was able to watch the film Supernova on Satur-, on Sunday. And, I’d like to say: I have never found something that was so… emotional as that film. It’s so direct. It certainly shows dementia as it is, you know, the highs and the lows.

For myself I noticed that the carer, Sam, I was able to get, have a lot of empathy with him. You know, you could see the hurt, it was also the love that he was giving to Tusker, and that, you know… And that is for me, that’s strange, because I realised, or I thought over the last two to three years that I had lost any empathy that I had. Obviously, I still got some of it. Another thing was when Sam was cooking the, or preparing a meal for himself and Tusker. Tusker asked, said that he could come and help, or do it for – you know, he could do it instead. And Sam said no. It was as though he might have just turned around and said, “You know, look, I’ve started, I can do it bigger and better than what you can do. Just, leave me alone. Alright. And to me, that hurt, for Tusker. Cause I know what it’s like. Because I’ve actually been in that position myself.

The next thing that I noticed, was when we’re on the road trip, was that Sam was talking to Tusker about anything and everything. Tusker, he just sat there looking out the window in a world of his own. And then it’s something that I realised that I’ve done it many times. You know. What you do, you tend to isolate yourself. And for no reason at all. And especially when someone that loves you is talking to you and you don’t have the decency to answer them back.

Another thing that I did notice with Tusker, when it was mentioned by Sam about selling their home and moving to a bungalow, right. Tusker got really annoyed, you know. And I can see where it come from. Because it was as though Sam was saying, “here’s what we’re going to do” And there’d been no conversation. They’d never thought about, you know, any talk about that. And again, it’s something that… I hear it sometimes, for myself. It’s that, you know sometimes, you’re told you are going to do this, but you haven’t been consulted about it. So, as I say, it was a lot the things that, you know, to me, it’s true, for my own condition. And, as I say it’s very rare that I have any emotions, or anything like that. But this film actually brought tears out of my eyes. Ok, the last part of it, you know, when Tusker decided that he wanted, to end his, you know, ending his life. For me, it’s against my beliefs for me to even think of things like that, you know. But I suppose, each one to his own ways. Anyways, that’s my view of the film. And I hope to talk to you again later. Bye!