CAREGIVING - MAGNIFIQUE!

Spontaneous delight often derives from a simple afternoon experience being enveloped by my local independent movie theater's big screen.  For a couple of hours I was whisked away to France in the sights and sounds of the movie The Intouchables.  This true story is based on  the lives of a wealthy, paralyzed Parisian who befriends his Senegalese caretaker.




Positive, uplifting, life-affirming, upbeat and fun are just a few appropriately descriptive words for this film.

We're given the opportunity to see the human personal need for affection and the pleasure desired from the company of another.

We note the safety of distancing in seeking that individual connection if only by letter, (could be email, social media,) while fearing rejection should we meet in person.

We're exposed to the seeking of sensory and mental stimulation, excitement.

We recognize wanting to feel alive with anticipation so our existence has value, is meaningful, which everyone seeks -- whatever their condition, age, or status in life.



Action and adventure are part of this tale as is a brief account at the film's conclusion of the actual men's lives at the time the movie was completed.  There are spectacular colorful snowy mountain peaks and green valleys, also beckoning ocean scenes.

The actors are exceptional with the primary roles portrayed by Francois Cluzet, the quadriplegic who was paralyzed in a paragliding accident and hires a caretaker from the projects  remarkably played by Omar Sy.  Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano wrote and directed this highly honored film.

Music is an integral part of this tale, occasionally at the forefront, but often in the background accentuating the mood, bridging a range of melodies, rhythms, styles.  We hear some of the classical giants compositions Bach, Rimsky-Korsakov; current Italian composer Ludovico Einaudi whose music is very prevalent in the film -- music contrasts and influences for every generations popular music.   The film's songtrack list includes:

Intouchables Soundtrack Piano by Ludovico Einaudi

Earth, Wind and Fire - Boogie Wonderland - music in the film.



Here's a lady whose interpretative singing always tells a story as in this film.

Nina Simone "Feeling Good" 





The manner in which life's restrictions impose themselves on anyone with physical limitations are not shied away from in the telling of this story including brief but factual reference to the most intimate physical needs in body function.

My years of working primarily with adults -- increasingly an older aging group of men and women -- has always been based on an awareness that no one wants to be pitied, whatever their circumstance.   Along the way, we have become contemporaries in age.

I've served those along a lengthy continuum of personal financial wealth, including some  with little or no means, but likely none with quite the assets of the gentleman portrayed in this film.

There is wealth in this story that has nothing to do with dollars, pounds, pesos, or the euro, but does pertain to human interactions.

Some of us have been caregivers, are caregivers, may become caregivers.Some of us will be cared for by others.

We will all be better caregivers or recipients of care if we can be real and actually caring with one another without pity.

One final thought, The Intouchables film is a joy to view if only for entertainment value.


(Another excellent French film, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly was previously reviewed here and is highly recommended for viewing.)