Alive Inside (2014)

Just perfect...

Excellent but underrated film

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

OK, medicine can do a lot of things to make us fell better, heal a plenty of ours diseases and stuff but, can the medicine touch our soul? Nope. This documentary show us that music is universal and everyone needs music. Yes, we need it. Music touch our soul and can we fell better, the right music can make you relax more than a vicodin, for sure. This film show us that we are so used to the consume of drugs that we don't really need, and we don't care about it. Because somebody says that we need that and that is it. The elderly that are abandoned by their children in that facilities were removed from the world they know, and put on a sad and depressing reality, and just by the use of music they can feel alive again, can remember things again, feel human again. Finally, this film show us that small things like this can change a life, they make a difference in someone's life. So, be there for your parents, they won't be there for you forever.

The discovery that music, when carefully selected for and played to individual dementia patents, can bring them out of their depressed stupor, and/or calm them down when agitated -- is simply profound.The documentary is very professional and does a fine job of illuminating this new and major movement throughout the "rest homes" of the world -- one which even eliminates the need for a rest home in some cases.If you were afraid to see yet another "depressing account" of the state of our elderly -- don't be! This is anything but depressing (for the most part) as it demonstrates what is possibly the greatest (and mostly hidden) wealth within each of our minds: music.Seems that a sense of and remembrance of music is one of the last things to go in our brains when we age. Not only is the music shown to be enjoyable by elderly, but, as shown succinctly in this film, the right music can unlock many other memories, leading to an obvious joy of heart.Watch it and be truly amazed, even crying with joy.

We need music. That's the message you are going to get from this documentary. And very few are as eye opening as "Alive inside" which takes us into the world of nursing homes in the US. It's easy to forget that there are millions of people living alone with no relatives to pay them a visit. We go on with our daily lives and spend more time talking to strangers on social medias than actually doing something for real people who are there and need us. The scary thing, it's that it might very likely be the way we end up ourselves: sat on a chair in a nursing home while contemplating yet again a plain wall for hours.What Dan (the protagonist of this documentary) sets to do is to show the power of alternative therapies for people with Dementia, or simply people who have forgotten all about their lives. And his soothing therapy couldn't be simpler: Music! That's right! nothing else. We see the residents of these nursing homes with broken spirits, unable to articulate a sentence, incapable of remember any details from the past. Surprisingly, the moment they are exposed to music, memories come back to them. A spark lightens up in their eyes, they even dance, and start talking more than they ever did. Music makes them cry, laugh, jump. As one of them says: "It makes me feel like I have a girl and I can hug her". How can music be so powerful? some bits are explained in the documentary, so I hope you will find the time to watch it. While it might not be the best edited piece of film making around, for the sake of its content, you should definitely give it go!

I am deeply moved by this documentary. It is really very fascinating to watch how the Alzheimer patients who don't even remember their names responded to music, particularly the music they loved in their early days.The scientific reasons behind this is also described properly. Aging is an inevitable phenomenon of life. It is us who should decide how we take care of aged population. In India the way is far more different than USA. Here usually old people, who are suffering from dementia are not sent to a nursing home. Home care is given and they remain in the family. But after watching this documentary I have realized the picture is quite different in America.Parting a old human from his/her familiar world is gonna worsen their disease(but there may be some obligatory factors in the family I am overlooking those).If music therapy seems to help them then it should be started on a large scale. Dan Cohen is doing a great job by helping these people(not patient) and government should help him to achieve his goal. A must watch.