Autism Vox

Not Your Average Movies 2

by Kristina Chew, PhD on February 29th, 2008

Yesterday I noted two musicals about autism—-here’s two more movies with autistic characters. Today’s New York Times has a round-up of 15 films in the 13th annual Rendez-Vous With French Cinema 2008 series. One is a documentary by Sandrine Bonnaire about her autistic sister, Her Name is Sabine / Elle s’appelle Sabine:

…..throughout her acting career, Bonnaire has also been filming her younger sister, Sabine. Called crazy by her schoolmates and diagnosed as problematic by the authorities, Sabine moved in and out of schools until, in her late 20s, she was put in a mental institution. Bonnaire’s very moving, enlightening film finds Sabine at 38, living in an adult care facility after having finally been diagnosed as autistic five years earlier. An exposé of the ignorance that has plagued the treatment of autism, the film is even more centrally about the relationship between Sandrine and Sabine — the care, the closeness, the feelings of guilt and especially the frustration as one sister feels helpless to stop the other’s decline.

The New York Times describes Bonnaire’s film as the “most wrenching” in the series:

Ms. Bonnaire’s documentary about her younger sister’s struggle with autism incorporates 25 years of home movies. The sadness of Sabine’s decline from a young woman with sparkling eyes into an anxious, fearful middle age (she was 38 when the movie was completed) is mitigated by the film’s portrait of a sisterhood that flourishes in spite of every obstacle.

It does sound wrenching, though—myself being 39—I’m not sure why the NY Times says that Sabine is middle-aged.

Another new movie from Australia, The Black Balloon, and includes an autistic character by the name of Charlie (how can I now be interested…..). Its director, Elissa Down, has two autistic brothers The Australian notes that the film has opened to “rave reviews” and profiles Tyne Miller, who is 19 and autistic, and who plays a lioness in a dance scene depicting Noah’s Ark in The Black Balloon. Says Miller:

“It was pretty interesting being in the movie, when we played together as animals……Autism means someone always likes to be alone, sometimes you like being with people and sometimes you don’t. My talking, my sounds, it’s difficult just a bit. It worries me a bit.

“I work at the library, I started last year. It’s going well. I don’t have any problems. I want to keep going working in the library. That’s it. I put the books away and the DVDs away. It’s OK work. A happy person? Yeah, I am.”

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POSTED IN: Adulthood, Movies, Siblings