Page 17 - Lifestyles in Palm Beach Gardens - January '24

Lifestyles in Palm Beach Gardens, Page 17
Film Review: The Wall

By Nils A. Shapiro Instead, what we hear are After a while, the woman decides to take a walk in the forest
I have no idea how you will react to this film. the narrated thoughts of one accompanied by the wonderful, sweet dog – who instantly won
I started to watch it because I was intrigued by the brief woman – actress Martina me over as my favorite character in the film – and suddenly,
description Amazon Prime Video offered of the film as I was Gedeck in a tour de force shockingly strikes her head into a wall, an invisible barrier, one
looking for one deserving of a review in this month’s column. performance – expressed so that she cannot see but feels with the palms of her hands and is
Referring to it as an “art house film” (which to me denotes a artfully that time and again I clearly impenetrable! There is no way around it nor over it.
work of unusual quality), the two-sentence hint of its story absorbed this film as a true As she soon discovers, for no discernible reason she has been
line made it clear that this would be very different from the poetic experience. cut off from all humanity. The couple who left her earlier that day
typical action flicks, comedies and rom-coms that dominate The reason for the lack never return; no cars nor travelers ever pass. One day she sees
today’s streaming services. of dialogue is clear from the through the invisible wall an old timer and his wife in strangely
What an understatement that turned out to be! story line. In the opening silent, unmoving poses unable to hear her.
The Wall is an Austrian production filmed in the Austrian moments of the film, a She is alone with her dog, joined as the weeks and months
Alps, written and directed by Julian Polaner. It was originally woman is waving her wishes pass by two cats and a cow that somehow strays onto the cabin’s
released in 2012 and garnered 12 award nominations in several for a pleasant trip to a couple property before giving birth to a calf. Over a period of three years,
categories, winning four, at international film festivals. Filmed in in a wagon. She has been alone with her animals – and despite her horror of the need to hunt
the German language, the Prime Video version is in English … visiting as a guest in their cabin, located in the middle of a forest, and kill deer and other small creatures of the forest in order to
although you need not be concerned about the quality of dubbing and they are going to the nearest village for the day. The couple provide food for her own and her animals companions’ survival
since there is essentially no dialogue at all after the first minute call for their dog, Lynx, to join them, but the dog returns instead – we are witnesses as the woman undergoes stages of emotional
of the just over 1½ hours of the film! to the cabin to be with the woman. and psychological confusion, terror, calm and acceptance in an
effort to retain some semblance of sanity.
During that time she decides to write a report of her daily
life as a way to fill the loneliness, and most of what we hear are
words she writes…both exquisite and tragic.
Then, just as the woman has found solace in the beauty of the
nature that surrounds her – the scents and sights of the pastures
and mountains, the trees that provide wood for warming hearth
fires in the cold winters, the endless stars that fill her night skies
– humanity appears once again in her life!
And with the reappearance of humanity – a man in her forest
COLORECTAL SURGERY – comes an act so inhumane that it depressed me to the point
only my commitment to this review kept me from turning off
Living longer, living better after a colorectal cancer diagnosis the film without waiting for the ending.
To explain further would be a spoiler and unfair to those of
An estimated 150,000 U.S. adults will be you whose sensitivity to the particular act might not equal mine.
diagnosed with colorectal cancer this year. This film deserves better than that.
Excluding skin cancer, it is the third most I opened this review by noting that I have no idea how this
common cancer diagnosed in both men and column’s readers will react to The Wall. My wife, Linda, watched
women each year in the United States. it with me. After the first half hour, she turned to me and asked,
“How can you watch this film?” I didn’t reply because I saw
Now for the good news. The 5-year survival rate promise in what was unfolding on the screen.
for colorectal cancer has more than doubled When the film was over, Linda’s opinion had changed: “What
since 1970, climbing to 65%, due to medical a brilliant and fascinating film. You really must write about it.”
advances and early screening. For people with The rest is up to you.
localized colorectal cancer (stage 1) the survival
rate is 91%.
“Colorectal cancer is both preventable and Palm Beach Holiday Boat Parade from page 16
highly treatable when we catch it early,” says
Steven Wexner, MD, PhD, Director of the Ellen
Leifer Shulman and Steven Shulman Digestive
Disease Center at Cleveland Clinic Weston
Hospital. “Patients can live long, quality lives Preserving quality of life
after a colorectal cancer diagnosis thanks to Advancements in surgical care have made it
treatment advancements.”
possible for many patients to achieve normal
Advanced surgical care bowel habits and bowel continence after
Treatment options for colon and rectal cancers colorectal surgery. Fewer patients today require
vary depending upon a person’s health, a permanent colostomy, in which stool is
age and cancer stage. While surgery is the diverted from the lower part of the digestive
most common treatment, chemotherapy and tract by connecting the end of the colon to
radiation therapy may be needed as well. The an opening in the belly. Thanks to newer Lou Daniello, Charlotte Daniello, Roman Zacharko
type of surgery performed will depend on the surgical techniques developed and/or refined
extent of the cancer and where it’s located. at Cleveland Clinic Weston Hospital, it is more
common for patients to need only a temporary
Some patients will require the removal of part
or all of the colon (colectomy) or rectum (rectal ileostomy to let the body rest and heal, rather
than a permanent colostomy.
resection). Others may require the removal of
both. These procedures can be done during “Preserving and improving the quality of life are
open surgery, through one large incision, or always our top priorities, and the work being
using minimally invasive techniques, which done by my colleagues in Florida, Ohio, London
include laparoscopy, robotic, and transanal and Abu Dhabi attest to these priorities,”
endoscopic surgery through a few small says Dr. Wexner. “For patients with colorectal
incisions. cancer, that means eliminating their cancer
while helping them preserve bowel continence
“Patients benefit from minimally invasive whenever possible.”
surgery in many ways, including less pain and
scarring, a shorter hospital stay, and quicker The Maroone Cancer Center at Cleveland John Morrow, Karla Morrow Sally Sevareid, Monty Foster
recovery,” explains Dr. Wexner, who led the Clinic Weston Hospital is an ACS Commission
Cleveland Clinic team in Florida that pioneered on Cancer Accredited Program and was the
®
this approach. “Most importantly, we can first in Florida and second in the nation to
perform these less invasive procedures while earn accreditation from the ACS National
still minimizing the risk for cancer recurrence.” Accreditation Program for Rectal Cancer.

TALK WITH AN EXPERT.

Howard Berg, MD, sees patients in Wellington, Coral Springs and
West Palm Beach. To schedule a consultation or seek a second opinion
from Dr. Berg or another Cleveland Clinic colorectal specialist in Florida,
call 877.463.2010. Visit ClevelandClinicFlorida.org/Colorectal to learn
more about colorectal surgery.
George Gentile, Ryan Gina Lusardi, Shelby
Swenson Callison