Synopsis
A fatally ill mother with only two months to live creates a list of things she wants to do before she dies without telling her family of her illness.
2003 Directed by Isabel Coixet
A fatally ill mother with only two months to live creates a list of things she wants to do before she dies without telling her family of her illness.
Moje życie beze mnie, 죽기전에 하고 싶은 10가지, 나 없는 내 인생, Mi vida sin mi, 死ぬまでにしたい10のこと:2003, Mein Leben ohne mich, La mia vita senza me, Ma vie sans moi, Моя жизнь без меня, Mi vida sin mí, Az élet nélkülem, Viața mea fără mine, החיים בלעדיי, Můj život beze mne, 死ぬまでにしたい10のこと, Bensiz Hayatım, Ζωή Χωρίς Εμένα, Животът ми без мен, Mitt liv utan mig, Minha Vida Sem Mim, 没有我的日子, Моє життя без мене, Moje življenje brez mene
I want to live inside of the scene where mark ruffalo invites sarah polley out to his car in the middle of a rainstorm to listen to spanish music on his radio and he starts touching her face and she says “if you don’t kiss me right now i’m gonna scream” and he just sits there looking dumb and then she starts SCREAMING and he says “shut up” and grabs her and kisses her. someone reenact this scene with me immediately or i’m gonna plotz.
There’s very few reviews of this that actually articulate why it’s so good, and here’s another you can add to the pile. It might be because this is another one of those emotionally draining yet smart dramas that manages to eschew melodrama and thus hit viscerally hard, so much so that it makes it tough to analyse and explain “it works because” and its easier to engage with it on an emotional level.
Sarah Polley, as an actor or director, is always wonderful, and you can also add this film to the oddly specific list of ‘Emotional dramas where Mark Ruffalo is subtly excellent’, in fact this would be a superb humanistic double bill with Lonergan’s You Can Count On…
Part of the 30 countries festival. Canada
Women always know more about the facts of life because most of the facts happen to women - a mother to her daughter in Nanci Kincaid's collection of short stories "Pretending the Bed is a Raft"
*** There are spoilers, but I think you get those from the film description, so if you want to go in completely blind, don't read this***
My Life Without Me, Isabel Coixet's adaptation of Pretending the Bed is a Raft, is beautiful. There is just enough whimsy in this story of a young mother facing death to prevent it from becoming yet another "cancer drama".
Because Ann doesn't tell anyone she has two months to live, the…
“i can never read all the books i want; i can never be all the people i want and live all the lives i want. i can never train myself in all the skills i want. and why do i want? i want to live and feel all the shades, tones and variations of mental and physical experience possible in my life. and i am horribly limited.“
- sylvia plath
“alone. you’re alone. you’ve never been so alone in your life. lies are your only company”
u know when u start watching a movie and u instantly know its gonna become a favorite of yours? yeah...
there was a youtube comment on the trailer for this that said to not watch this before sleeping or you’ll ruin your night and i watched it before sleeping and ruined my night
Somehow throughout my Mark Ruffalo preoccupation I missed this film, and I've watched it just now, and what with it being so fucking beautiful what is there to say?
A persistent reminder of mortality pelting down every glimpse of a life fully lived, “My Life Without Me” takes each day with pouring tenderness and candour. Beating in the same identifiable style as most indie films of the 2000s (which makes it a bit dated), the quotidian routine of a 20-something mother of two is suddenly toppled over after a fainting spell from a debilitating pain in the abdomen. A solitary hospital visit brings bad news while easy acceptance attempts to make its way throughout a difficult conversation. But regrets soon loom. They metastasise not from what’s been done but what’s left undone. Briskly, with a to-do list, she commits to live with the eventual end of living, striking through…
Part of Lise and Jonnie’s What A Wonderful World: May 30 days, 30 countries.
Canada
I’m almost embarrassed to gush about this film, as it’s from my home and native land. Well, not exactly. Spanish director Isabel Coixet decided that she should do this film as a Canadian co-pro. I can’t put into words how incredibly attuned and sensitive a director she is. She went on to create The Secret Life of Words, another favourite of mine.
The central conceit is the question of what would you do if you only had 2 to 3 months to live. This is wide open question could be answered in many ways, and styled in many different fashions. Most of the possible outcomes…
"Now you feel like you want to take all the drugs in the world... But all the drugs in the world aren't going to change the feeling that your whole life has been a dream and it's only now that you're waking up."
Very simple, very slice of life, painfully candid. I thought it was going to be extremely depressing and in a way it was, but it was also almost... Calming? Refreshing?
I think about getting sick or someone I love getting sick more than I would like, which is why I avoid these type of movies. But I found it almost comforting to see how rational and pragmatic Ann managed to be after hearing those mindfucking news. It…