Review: Dick Johnson Is Dead
Kristen Johnson’s follow up to her brilliant work in Cameraperson, is an equally exceptional piece of documentary filmmaking, and somehow, even more personal. Cameraperson chronicled some of the most impactful work over her career as a documentarian - covering a midwife clinic in Nigeria, the systemic rape and violence against women in postwar Bosnia, and short vignettes of her mother after her dementia diagnosis. The stitched together footage highlighted the moments in her life that had a big impact, but in her latest project we’re allowed an even more intimate glimpse into her life.
Dick Johnson Is Dead is a blend of documentary-style and narrative filmmaking. Some of the scenes have an otherworldly quality to them. Johnson faces the end of her father’s life head on by imagining his death in a variety of ways: a tumble down the stairs, being hit by a bus, etc. Her father, Dick, is game for the exercise - playing out his own death in the film. In the process we’re invited to examine our own relationship to grief and death. Johnson’s fondness for her dad comes through in the film and while it seems like an unorthodox way to grapple with someone’s imminent passing, it also makes sense. It almost feels like a preparation of sorts - to deal with the inevitable head on.