Dirs. Steven Bognar/ Julia Reichert, 2005 , US, 225 mins
Cast: Dr. Robert Arceci, Adam Ashcraft, Dale Ashcraft, Debbie Ashcraft, Justin Ashcraft, Dr. Victor Balasa, Dr, Cyndi DeLaat, Al Fields, Regina Fields, Dr. Malini Gillen, Dr. Fred Huang, Dr. Paul Jublinsky, Connie Koons, Alex Lougheed, Jackie Lougheed, Judy Lougheed, Scott Lougheed, Dr. Claire Mazewski, Beth Moone, Frank Moone, Jen Moone, Linda Pollman, Jennifer Roller, Marietha Woods, Tim Woods, Dr. Ted Zwerdling
Review by Jaya Jiwatram
Intense, raw, and fiercely emotional, A Lion in the House stands as a poignant reminder of our own frailty as we follow the harrowing journeys of five children undergoing cancer treatment in the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Centre. Yet in that frailty, husband-and-wife directors Steve Bognar and Julia Reichert, whose daughter is a childhood cancer survivor, reveal courage, resiliency and strength, qualities that are epitomised by the true lions of the documentary – the patients of ward 54.
Here, we meet the chatty, quick-witted 15-year-old Tim Woods, the bubbly, delightfully adorable seven-year-old Alex Lougheed, and the gutsy, forward-speaking 19-year-old Justin Ashcraft, who even after a decade of treatment still faces each one with pluck and optimism. All three have already gone through at least one cycle of treatment and remission, and when contrasted later with the quiet six-year-old Jen Moone and fast-thinking 11-year-old Al Fields, who are introduced at the beginning of their journeys, the pressure of time looming in the background is swiftly felt. The stories that then run alongside each other almost seem like a race to the end, as one narrative thread feeds off another to reveal the hopes, dreams, fears and anxieties of the children, some of whom survive and others who must stare death in the face.
The four-hour, two-part film, however, doesn’t just focus on the children alone. Invited by Dr. Robert Arceci, then the hospital’s chief oncologist, to follow five patients and their families, Bognar and Reichert spent six years filming to create what ultimately becomes a sensitively woven portrait of the life-changing effects of cancer on all those involved. While one mother gives up her career to take care of her child, for instance, another clings on to her job to maintain her medical benefits. Aside from the socioeconomic factors that play into the issues at the hand, the ethical, psychological and philosophical ones also weave their way in, adding a deep emotional strain on some family ties and solidifying others. One of the toughest questions that arise is: At what point is it time to say, enough is enough? Even the highly compassionate doctors and medical staff, many of whom have been in the field for a while, have to struggle with this question every single time.
In the meantime, patients old enough to make a decision have to face equally difficult questions about their own lives, with the most striking transformation of thoughts revealed in Tim. Admitting at the start that he liked the attention and later discarding his medication, Tim at first doesn’t realise – or chooses not to admit – the gravity of his illness. After enough trips to the hospital and the worsening condition of his health, he matures fast, and takes decisions into his own hand, plainly accepting what needs to be done as the next step.
As heart-tugging as the documentary is, Bognar and Reichert do not exploit their subjects. There are vivid images – brain surgery, open-casket funerals, patients at their physically and emotionally worst moments – but they serve to move the narration along with an honest, no-frills attached openness. And, in that candidness, the axiomatic tagline of the film, “you know you are truly alive when you are living among the lions,” couldn’t ring more true.
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