MUCH ADO ABOUT DYING


Simon Chambers Best Director

Category
Documentary
Director
Simon Chambers
Year
2022
Country
Ireland
Runtime
01:26:00
Budget
100.000 USD
Other Festivals
IDFA Amsterdam November 12, 2022 International Premiere Best Directing International Feature Competition Netherlands Hot Docs Toronto April 28, 2023 North American Premiere Official Selection Canada CPH Dox Copenhagen March 16, 2023 Danish Premiere Official Selection Denmark Krakow International Film Festival Krakow June 1, 2023 Polish premiere International Competition Poland Sheffield Doc Fest Sheffield June 15, 2023 UK premiere United Kingdom DocIreland Belfast June 24, 2023 Northern Irish Official Selection Ireland Galway Fleadh Galway July 12, 2023 Official Selection Ireland DocAviv Tel Aviv May 13, 2023 Israel Premiere Official selection Israel DocPoint Helsinki February 2, 2023 Finland Premiere Official Selection Finland

Simon is shooting a film in India when his Uncle David calls him with a message of doom: “Come back to London, I think I may be dying.” What the viewer doesn’t yet know is that David is a Shakespeare-loving drama queen who has grown old on a diet of attention and applause. But David has no intention of dying just yet. David refuses to go into a care home. As Simon tries to figure out how he can help his anarchic and spirited uncle, David sits in his kitchen reciting King Lear, “It’s the play about an old man becoming infirm, losing his mind and giving his kingdom away” he tells his nephew. As David’s life echos the play that he loves so much, in this prize winning hit from IDFA 2022, described by Variety as “An achingly funny/sad film” and by film verdict as a “Masterpiece”, Simon is left with the challenge of trying to help his uncle have a good death. Or as Uncle David says “Dying is like going on a wonderful holiday without the bother of having to pack”.

Simon sta girando un film in India quando suo zio David lo chiama con un messaggio di sventura: “Torna a Londra, penso che potrei stare per morire.” Quello che lo spettatore non sa ancora è che David è un amante del teatro che ha trascorso la sua vecchiaia a base di attenzione e applausi. Ma David non ha intenzione di morire proprio ora. David rifiuta di andare in una casa di cura. Mentre Simon cerca di capire come può aiutare suo zio anarchico e spiritoso, David si siede nella sua cucina recitando Re Lear: “È la pièce su un vecchio che diventa debole, perde la mente e dà via il suo regno”, dice al nipote. Mentre la vita di David riecheggia la commedia che ama così tanto, in questo successo premiato da IDFA 2022, descritto da Variety come “Un film commovente/umoristico” e dalla sentenza cinematografica come un “Capol spettacolare”, a Simon viene lasciata la sfida di cercare di aiutare suo zio a morire bene. O come dice lo zio David, “Morire è come andare in una meravigliosa vacanza senza il fastidio di dover fare le valigie”.