MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
ON RICHARD'S SIDE
August 4, Kino Cinema 2, 6.30pm
The subject of Andrew Wiseman's observational documentary – the challenge of caring for an intellectually disabled adult – could easily have been exploited to cloying effect.
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But Wiseman, who has been following the one Perth family for decades, establishes a level of intimacy that quickly draws you in.
Richard Rook, now in his 30s, is at the more severe end of the disability spectrum: unable to speak, he expresses himself in frantic whimpers or guttural roars, and can't eat, bathe himself or walk upright without help.
What's happening in his mind remains largely unknowable, for the audience at least.
Even those who love him don't find it easy to cope, and while Wiseman's perspective is compassionate he refuses to simplify the situation to fit an "inspirational" formula.
The film's central voice belongs to Richard's mother Deirdre Croft, a strong-minded advocate frequently on the verge of tears but also highly articulate about her own mixed feelings.