Wake up! Wake up! The fictional action of the film takes place during the real events that took place in Italy in February 2009 and shook the whole country. Namely: February 9, 2009 finally turned off the artificial life support of Eloine Englaro, which caused her natural death.
A little history:
Back in 1992, 21-year-old Elouana, having lost control of the car due to ice, crashed into a wall, receiving severe head injuries and a fractured spine, which caused immediate paralysis of all four limbs. When the ambulance arrived, the girl was in a coma. After several months in intensive care, Eluana emerged from a coma, but due to extensive and irreversible brain damage, was declared in a vegetative state. According to the Englaro family, as soon as they realized how desperate their daughter was, the parents began asking doctors to stop any medical intervention. Eluana's father began asking for a court order to cut off artificial nutrition and stop his daughter's treatment starting in 1999. This process reached the Supreme Court, which in March 2006 rejected the claims of the Englaro family, citing a procedural error. By a decree of 9 July 2008, the Court of Appeal of Milan allowed the father, as a guardian, to interrupt the forced feeding that supported the life of his daughter Eloine. This court decision caused various disputes, demonstrations, protests, counterclaims throughout the country. As a result, after 17 years of fighting for the right to natural death, on February 9, 2009 at 19:35 Eluana finally found peace.
Thus, the story of Eluana Englaro, first in the media and then in politics, caused extensive discussions in Italy about the end of life.
About the film
This story so impressed Marco Bellocchio that he decided to make a film and even wrote the script. In his interviews, he has repeatedly said that he sympathizes with Eluana's father and considers him a true hero. Having decided to make a film about those moods, those days, at the same time, he had no intention of making a film about the Englaro affair, about different positions and views on this story. The tape of Bellocchio only casually touches the whole story, leaving it in the background in the form of a scenery for the suffering and reflections of the main characters who have life experiences, in one way or another, common with the drama of Elouana.
Even before the release of the film, there were disputes, attempts were made to disrupt the project, as many expected (feared, anticipated) that it would be about such a difficult topic as euthanasia. But in fact, the film was about the person, about love, about faith, about choice, about humanity. I thought the movie was going to be about comatose Elohan. But in the film, besides Eluana, there are other sleeping beauties and beauties who wake up on their own or are tried to wake up others. We can say that they are all in a coma: an emotional coma, a coma of ideas, a coma of personality, a coma of circumstances. Yes, "Sleeping Beauty" directly deals with the question of life and death, the choice between life and death, but this film is more about life.
All 4 stories told by the director begin slowly, over time more and more captivating the viewer’s attention. There is growing tension, excitement for the heroes. I want it to end well. It is a pity for the guy Roberto, who wants to get rid of his “burden”, run away from his “nightmare”. It is also a pity for the mother-actress, who is stuck in her faith, in her desire for a miracle for her daughter, that she does not see anything else around her, does not understand how others need her. We admire the doctor who undertook to save the “lost sheep” and the politician who decided to go against the party for the sake of his convictions.
I really liked the actors, they were able to express all those emotions and anguish, bubbling inside. You believe them, you understand them (even if you don’t share their point of view). Great beautiful music.
Not a masterpiece, but a very good strong film, which personally stirred up a storm of emotions in me and made me think about many things. Therefore, deserved
9 out of 10