First Cousin Once Removed

Name: First Cousin Once Removed
Genre: Documentary
Released: 2014-02-13
Duration: 1 h 18 min
Rating: 7.5
Cast: Eli Berliner, Stuart Blazer, Susan Brown

IMDb RATING

7.5/10

417

YOUR RATING

Documentary

Acclaimed filmmaker Alan Berliner chronicles the deeply personal story of his mother's first cousin--well-known poet/translator/professor Edwin Honig--on his journey into the depths of Alzhe... Read allAcclaimed filmmaker Alan Berliner chronicles the deeply personal story of his mother's first cousin--well-known poet/translator/professor Edwin Honig--on his journey into the depths of Alzheimer's disease. Shot over the course of five years, the film presents an unflinching portr... Read allAcclaimed filmmaker Alan Berliner chronicles the deeply personal story of his mother's first cousin--well-known poet/translator/professor Edwin Honig--on his journey into the depths of Alzheimer's disease. Shot over the course of five years, the film presents an unflinching portrait of Edwin's work and life while documenting his slow mental deterioration through visit... Read all

Director
- Alan Berliner
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.5/10

417

YOUR RATING

Director
- Alan Berliner
Stars

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 2 wins & 5 nominations total

Photos

User reviews2

7.5417

Featured reviews

9runamokprods

Deeply moving and thought provoking documentary.

Talented and off-beat film-maker Alan Berliner documents the mind of his much older first cousin, the poet and translator Edwin Homing, as he slowly loses the battle against Alzheimer's.

Of course, any film about that subject can't help but be touching, but Berliner goes well beyond the obvious tragedy to raise questions of; what is memory, time, family? We see and hear both the good and bad about this man, hear (and sometimes see) his poetry, hear the anger he put on his children as they were growing up, to end of not with a portrait of a disease victim, but of a man and an artist. Berliner jumps around in time, so we see Edwin in bad and good moments. In the end, this isn't a linear portrait of a man's decline, but an thoughtful and even darkly entertaining exploration of what is communication, thought, love.

9GrumpyHistory

At first I felt gross

At first it felt gross. That he was being watched like this. That I didn't know who had consented. That I could see something I feared, out loud. That I needed to see it. That there was some...not glee...not entertainment...but some kind of fulfillment, for me. To watch someone forget until they couldn't speak language and it was unclear if they were aware that they weren't or that it was expected that they would. He says it in the beginning: he's a mirror.

This documentary isn't unaware. It isn't a stripping of dignity. Do we think people who lose their memories some whole become less dignified beings? Or is that something we take from them in our minds when we don't think they need it anymore, or understand they have it in the first place? This was a good documentary.

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Storyline

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Did you know

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Quotes
Edwin Honig: [YOUNGER EDWIN On video recording] I'm Edwin Honig and I've been around for 70 years, so I think. I've been a poet and writer... Born in Brooklyn, NY, September 3rd, 1919... Abraham Lincoln High School 1935... City College of New York... University of Wisconsin at Madison. Studied English...
Edwin Honig: [OLD EDWIN] Who's this?
Edwin Honig: [YOUNGER EDWIN, Continuing in background] ... graduated in '41, BA in Latin American Affairs, Spanish and Political Science.
Alan Berliner: [Voice] He's the man who you once were.
Edwin Honig: [YOUNGER EDWIN, continuing] "... 2-1/2 years, Second World War, European Theater. University of Wisconsin, MA in...
Edwin Honig: [OLD EDWIN] I'm not impressed.
Edwin Honig: [YOUNGER EDWIN, Continuing] ... Editor of 'New Mexico Quarterly'. Did I mention getting a Guggenheim?
[Small laugh]
Edwin Honig: Got a Guggenheim. Got a year off writing fiction, allegory, satire. Went to Harvard...
Edwin Honig: [OLD EDWIN] He's trying to be someone.
Edwin Honig: [YOUNGER EDWIN, Continuing] Brown University. Professor of English and Comparative Literature. Director of the writing program... Experimentation. Started a small press, Copper Beach Press. Published a good many books, one on allegory.
[Long Pause]
Edwin Honig: I've forgotten the title. Before I knew it, 26 years had passed. Retired in 19...
Edwin Honig: [OLD EDWIN] He knows what to do with his head. I don't.