Filmes: 2009

domingo, 20 de setembro de 2009

This Beggar's Description

Excerto:

Philip Tétrault has been locked up in jails and psych wards, kicked out of the house by desperate friends and family and spent long periods living on the streets of Montreal. However, he is also a talented writer and loving father whose deep family bonds and friendships have helped him come through periods of incredible darkness brought on by his schizophrenia. Directed by Pierre Tétrault, This Beggar's Description tells his brother Phil's story - one of art, love, and madness - capturing the far-reaching effects of schizophrenia on one man, his friends and his family. Phil's writing is central both to his life and to this documentary - offering extraordinary insights into street life in Montreal, the beauty of nature and what he calls "the gymnastics of my mind". His unpublished novel, Travels in Schizophrenia, is so intense that to this day Phil can't read it, for fear that it will bring on his schizophrenia. Today he spends his days with friends on the street, collects cans for beer money, plays his beloved pan pipes and writes as much as he can. Phil is celebrated at the launch of his poetry book in Montreal, which is attended by his old friend and great supporter Leonard Cohen, whose songs are woven throughout the film. In this powerful and moving portrait, we are reminded that rather than continuing to isolate those with schizophrenia, it is a far richer experience to make a place for them.

2005, 65 min 14 s

Directed by
Pierre Tétrault
Produced by
Gerry Flahive