Still Alice (2014) is a film about dementia. Julianne Moore plays Alice Howland, a 50-year-old professor whose life is turned upside down when she is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
Alzheimer's disease is a condition of gradual and irreversible loss of cerebral nerve cells. It is the most common cause of dementia. The consequences of the loss of nerve cells are: memory loss, impairment of cognitive functions and changes in personality. According to the Norwegian Directorate of Health, approximately 70,000 people in Norway suffer from dementia.
Watch the film (1 h 41 mins.)
Questions for the film:
- There are many different types of dementia. Name three different types and describe what characterizes them.
- What are the most common symptoms of dementia?
- What kind of symptoms can we see in the film?
- Is there a medical treatment for dementia?
- What do you think it is like to receive this kind of diagnosis at such a young age?
- How would you explain the condition of dementia to the patient's family?
- What are the key principles for communicating with people with dementia?
- How did Alice's family react?
- How did this condition affect the lives of her family?
- In the film Alice says that she would rather have had cancer. Reflect on this statement.
- What was the purpose of the video that Alice made for herself?
These questions were written by students in one of our pilot classes at Tvedestrand and Åmli high school, 2 HFA 16/17.
CC BY-SASkrevet av Sonja Nygaard-Joki og Inger Brit Thorbjørnsen.
Sist faglig oppdatert 30.04.2020