Near Death

Issues of Aging Curated Video Collection


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Near Death

Near Death is a Peabody Award-winning film about the Medical Intensive Care Unit at Boston's Beth Israel Hospital, where staff members struggle to take care of the terminally ill. Centering on how people face death, filmmaker Frederick Wiseman presents the complex interrelationships among patients, families, doctors, nurses, hospital staff, and religious advisors. These relationships are explored as they confront the personal, ethical, medical, psychological, religious, and legal issues involved in making decisions about whether to give life-sustaining treatment to dying patients. Viewers are introduced to four patients and experience the fragile bonds that develop between doctors and the patients' families. Family members urge physicians to prolong life for as long as possible, but at the same time, hesitate to encourage painful options. Brought to the surface in this enlightening documentary is the struggle and frustration that strike at the heart of a profession where there are many varying philosophies regarding these near death situations.

DATE: 1989

TOPICS:
Caregivers, End-of-Life Issues

CREDITS:
Producer / Director: Frederick Wiseman

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:
Black & White
358 minutes
4 video set
Original Format: 16mm

public library pricing and ordering

non-public library orders - contact distributor