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This documentary features the decade-long struggle of a young producer, Paul Nadler, who suffered severe brain damage in a traffic accident while traveling in Cairo in 1994. The program follows his miraculous recovery. It shows the rehabilitation process recorded on a home video camera, interviews with his parents, friends, specialists and others who have been supporting him. We see in poignant detail both Paul's state as he recovers and the sea of emotions of all related people. Paul's devoted mother, Vera, recalls how she rejoiced when she heard her son was alive, but at the same time she admits the difficulty of handling a patient with severe brain damage, making us easily understand the reality of brain injured patients.
The program also distinguishes itself with Paul's interviews that carry a touch of poetry and utterly original visual images in response. Extremely impressive are scenes where Paul, in gaudy white makeup, like a Kabuki actor, makes various movements against a jet-black curtain. This documentary is not only a reality-based record of rehabilitation but also a sequence of striking images. Paul speaks straight into the camera, which is already surprising, but the program ends with a twist that truly surprises the audience. "I am the subject of the film, and not only that, I am directing the film." |
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