Dick Johnson Is Dead

A movie about a retired psychiatrist named Richard Johnson who pretends to be a stiff, and there's not one dick joke. Freud is rolling over in his grave.

As made by his daughter, Kirsten Johnson, "Dick Johnson is Dead" is an amusing picture for a documentary about an old widower with worsening dementia moving into a one-bedroom New York apartment with his daughter who films different ways of killing him. The expounding on dying--you know, that everybody's doing it--isn't very profound. The brief overview of the Johnson family's Seventh-day Adventism even less so. The loss of memory is a bit more interesting as it relates to documentary filmmaking, and Kirsten's late mother and Dick's late wife's photography. At one point, Kirsten laments that the only film she made of her mother was when she was well into being affected by Alzheimer's Disease. Although it has been far from always the case, there is a general sense that photographs and motion pictures may outlive the people in them and the memories thereof. Appropriately, then, the documentary is made in the reflexive mode, exposing the filmmaking process, including the staging of Dick's death scenes, and including the filmmaker as a heard and seen presence in the picture.

Apt as much of that is, what really sells "Dick Johnson is Dead" is the charm of its eponymous would-be corpse. This guy has life figured out. Eat chocolate cake and ice cream and crack jokes with friends and family, don't let stuff bother you too much, and if you're not sure what to do, take a nap or watch TV. The movie may get carried away with some of the heavenly imagery and interludes with cutouts and at other times not seem to be going much of anywhere, but it's worth sticking around for that wisdom from the demented dead man.

To help her dad (and herself) cope with his declining health and eventual death, a woman stages fake accidents that kill her father. They're all fake, of course. They play to laughs, and inspire the title of the film, but they're really only a small aspect of the film on the whole. The story mostly focuses on their relationship and shows how special Dick Johnson is as a father, a grandfather, and a human being. He is lovable, hilarious, and perpetually happy. Everyone loves this man. You'll love him too. And you'll love this movie. It's an incredibly nuanced and intelligent examination of death, but it wisely disguises itself as a comedy so viewers can watch without openly weeping the entire time. In the end, you'll still cry, but you'll smile too.

Greetings again from the darkness. Hal Ashby's 1971 cult classic HAROLD AND MAUDE takes a comical look at death, and in the process shows us the importance of living, and the jolt delivered by dying. Documentarian Kirsten Johnson (CAMERAPERSON, 2016) makes this a more personal project by involving her dad in a series of staged deaths for her film. Initially the purpose was to help him begin to deal with an end that could be coming soon, but it evolved into something altogether different.

Dick Johnson is an elderly psychiatrist. He's a charming and lively man, boasting a nice sense of humor and a twinkle in his eye. His daughter Kristen is "a camera person", and suggests to him that they make a film about him dying. He's on board. Kristen then stages various "deaths" for her father. These scenes include getting crushed by a falling air-conditioner, getting hit by a car, taking a horrific fall down stairs, and a construction site mishap. The more we get to know Dick, the more we like him. We learn it's been 30 years since he had a heart attack, and 7 years since his wife died. She suffered from Alzheimer's for years before she passed. We learn he's a Seventh Day Adventist, and loves chocolate fudge cake. My how he loves chocolate cake.

Initially gung-ho for his daughter's idea, and fully supportive of the situations she puts him in for her art, Dick begins to show signs of forgetfulness and confusion. At times we have our doubts that he fully comprehends what's happening - not just in the film, but in everyday life. The comical elements shift to wistfulness, as we are present when Dick has to shut down his practice, sell his car, and ultimately box up his belongings and move out of his beloved home. Kristen moves him to her one bedroom New York City apartment, which is right next door to that of the two fathers of her children.

In addition to the staged deaths, we also meet a stuntman who gets involved, and we are on set for the filming of Dick's "Heaven" which includes chocolate and popcorn, and his "Last Supper" featuring, among others, Bruce Lee, Frieda Kahlo, Farrah Fawcett, and Frederick Douglass. There is also a family trip to a beach in Lisbon, and a reunion with Dick's college girlfriend in California. The strangest bit is the staged funeral, replete with Dick in a coffin, and friends offering tributes. We also celebrate Dick's 86th birthday, and see many family pictures and home videos.

Leonardo da Vinci is quoted: "As a well spent day brings happy sleep, so life well used brings happy death."

Watching Dick's spirit fade along with his memory is anything but happy. His daughter Kristen tries to remain sensitive to his changing state, but the feeling we are left with is anything but happiness towards death. Her film is likely structured much differently than she originally intended, but has so much value for discussion with loved ones and a reminder of just how precious life is for those who appreciate it. Now showing on Netflix

Dying is about the deadliest topic in any medium partly because it reminds us of our last end, or as Alexander Pope said, "Send not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee." An accomplished documentarian, Kirsten Johnson, takes that topic and makes it a sweet future as she orchestrates scenarios for her father's death with him starring while alive in Dick Johnson is Dead.

It is as if she believes that playing with a bit of gallows humor might at least stave off the Alzheimer's disease for her dad that her mother succumbed to a few years ago. The magic part of this unusual documentary is the love of father and daughter evident in every light-hearted scene. Be he knocked dead by a construction beam or actually experience a heart attack, she and he are collaborating on this doc as professionals (he is a psychiatrist) who know enough about life to make death an acceptable adjunct to a life that was worth living.

Dick Johnson is not much as an actor depicting his own death, but he is a father who has loved his child, his late wife, and his friends, of which he has a multitude. His love shines through in each frame making this the most realistic fictionalized death on film this year (and most likely the only one).

My other favorite doc this year is David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet, which also defeats the death of earth through our own collaboration with Nature. In both films, life is affirmed in the face of daunting realities such as our responsibility for choking the atmosphere or just living till we die.

Kirstin's loving handling of a potentially crippling topic is a tribute to her as an accomplished filmmaker who can create in the face of heavy emotional weight. It is even more a tribute to her as a daughter who loves her father unconditionally and forever-a state she uses to keep her dad in her mind forever.

"Because I could not stop for death-He kindly stopped for me." Emily Dickinson

Thanks to my daughter, Thea, who tipped me off to this exceptional doc-we share several sympathies with the film.

A thoughtful and heartfelt way to present the inherent aspect of life that is death