The Neuro Film Series will end the season with “A Matter of Life and Death” on Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 6:30 pm in the Jeanne Timmins Amphitheatre.
A Matter of Life and Death (1946) is a romantic fantasy film created by the British writing-directing-producing team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. This dynamic team purposefully used detailed and accurate neurological symptoms to enhance their art. The film stars David Niven, Roger Livesey, Kim Hunter, Marius Goring and Raymond Massey. Set in England during the Second World War, the film is about a young British airman, who under the earthly pretext of a brain illness, has his life put on trial by a heavenly tribunal. This celestial court is set up to judge the case while the airman, played by David Niven hangs in limbo between a Technicolor earth and a monochrome heaven. From a clinical approach, this 1946 movie portrays complex partial seizures with extensive neurological details woven into the film with dialogue that was developed from neurological academic papers.
Our host, Diane Broadbent Friedman, a nurse specialist who worked for a neurology group that specialized in epilepsy and epilepsy surgery, describes the film as “a complex neurological study of a psychologically normal man who believes that a heavenly tribunal has sentenced him to death.” Diane Broadbent Friedman is the author of “A Matter of Life and Death: The Brain Revealed by the Mind of Michael Powell”. Diane Broadbent Friedman will lead a discussion, invite comments and answer questions following the films close.
Neuro Movie Nights are free and snacks can be purchased (including wraps and popcorn)!
The Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital
3801 University street
Jeanne Timmins amphitheatre
debbie.rashcovsky@mcgill.ca or 514-398-6047