- When All That's Left is Love is the emotionally gripping story of a wife's determination to care for her Alzheimer's stricken husband in their home. With unprecedented, behind-the-scenes access, the film reveals the toll that the disease takes on families coping with Alzheimer's, while also showcasing the power of love that sustains both patients and caregivers.—Eric Gordon
- When All That's Left is Love is a sensitively-directed documentary about the caregivers of individuals suffering from dementia. The audience is drawn inside the emotionally gripping story of the filmmaker's own parents, the two main subjects of the feature-length film. Director Eric Gordon has returned to live with his parents so that he can relieve his aging mother, Marilyn, of the sole care for his Alzheimer's-afflicted father, Shelly. Eric joins his mother in care-giving, even as he captures unprecedented footage of the progression of his father's illness and his mother's increasing inability to cope. When All That's Left is Love is unique in that it is the only known contemporary film about Alzheimer's that presents the difficult inside story of the caregivers' journey, as viewed by a son. Eric Gordon's story focuses on his mother Marilyn and a neighbor, Arline Rothman, as they struggle to care at home for spouses who are living with moderate to severe stages of Alzheimer's disease. Gordon shows us the other side of Alzheimer's: the lives of caregivers who are courageous and worthy, yet utterly human, individuals, and who-out of love- have taken on the most overwhelming role of their lives. Gordon's mother Marilyn-on duty 24/7, feeling as trapped as her husband is-has entered a state of near collapse, both physical and emotional. Nothing has prepared her for managing her husband's difficult and ever-changing behaviors. The emotionally-taut scenes reveal the sense of a long-married couple's everyday life turned on its head. Despite the pain of transitioning to a new time in their relationship, the love that clearly sustained them for so many years is ever-present and something they repeat to each other, even when it is the only thing in their life that makes sense to them.
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