Alzheimer’s disease earned its name from Doctor Alois Alzheimer during 1906 after he studied the condition of Auguste Deter, the very first person who had been recorded as the first Alzheimer’s disease patient. She was first brought to Doctor Alzheimer during 1901. Her death soon followed on 1906. Doctor Alzheimer autopsied Deter’s brain and later identified her illness to which we now know as Alzheimer’s disease.
“Alzheimer’s is said to be the most common form of dementia.” (Alzheimer’s Association, 2011) The disorder is said to be a genetically mutated disease, which usually appears during the age of sixty years old onwards. The illness slowly erases someone’s memory. Alzheimer’s disease is classified to have three stages—the mild, moderate and severe Alzheimer’s disease. These three stages differ only from the area or the function of the brain that is affected.
Alzheimer’s disease was the main conflict in the movie “A Moment to Remember” wherein Kim Soo-Jin suffered from and her loved ones as well. Even from the beginning of the film, Soo-Jin the female protagonists, showed symptoms of Alzheimer’s already. When she bought refreshment in a convenient store, she suddenly forgot the drink she just purchased and her purse as well. She then realized what just had happened and return to the store. Upon seeing a guy exiting from the store and holding the same drink she just bought earlier, she then grabbed and drunk it. Leaving the guy, Chul-Soo without anything to drink.
The two, Soo-Jin and Chul-Soo got married eventually after meeting for a couple of times. Soo-Jin’s condition started to worsen and so did the situation. Soo-Jin accidentally left a stove that almost burnt down their house. From that moment, Soo-Jin sought help. She finally decided to visit a doctor to consult her situation. After the doctor evaluated her condition, he asked her to visit him again after a week, which she forgot and visited him after two weeks instead. From then, the doctor announced that she has Alzheimer’s disease, which is rare for her case being only twenty-eight years old. The doctor advised her to quit her job because she will eventually be unable to recall how to work. She hid the findings to her husband and decided not to burden him anymore.
Clear symptoms of Alzheimer’s started to occur when she fortuitously put two packs of rice in her husband’s lunch box and lost her way upon meeting her ex-lover. After knowing that Soo-Jin put two packs of rice, Chul-soo immediately visited Su-jin’s physician and learned that his wife was positive for Alzheimer’s disease. The family of Su-jin was informed about her situation and decided to take care Su-jin but Chul-soo disagreed as he insisted to nurse her all by himself instead.
Su-jin kept calling Chul-Soo in the name of her ex-lover as her illness started to progress. Chul-soo was aware that only her earlier memories would be left on her. After realizing her mistake and understanding her present condition, Soo-Jin asked for a divorce and decided to leave her husband. As she moved away, her disease was clearly eating all her memory, specifically that of Chul-Soo and her family.
To ease the pain of Chul-Soo himself, he asked Soo-Jin for the last time, to go out with him. He brought his wife in the same convenient store where they first met. Inside the convenient store was Soo-Jin’s family, her doctor and Chul-Soo’s mother. The movie ends with the two of them spending the day together, travelling and Chul-Soo, for the first time said, “I love you” to his wife.
As a brief analysis on how the characters portrayed their character, the lead actor and actress justified their roles with the way they acted upon the film, which then became appropriate for the movie. Son Ye-Jin portrayed Kim Soo-Jin who was the female protagonist in the story. Her acting skills depicted how her character confronted her disease. Even though the story is tragic, her character still managed to portray in a humorous manner particularly during the scene when she first encountered Choi Chul-Soo. The actress showed Soo-Jin’s symptoms when she started to forget gradually. Furthermore, the delivery of her lines helped her justify her character.
Meanwhile, Jung Woo-Sung played the role of Choi Chul-Soo as an aggressive and an appealing man to his wife. The actor gave justness to his character by being calm and skeptic about love. His portrayal of Chul-Soo’s manliness was evident particularly on the part where he seized the man who stole Soo-Jin’s purse. Although he was an independent person, the actor was able to show the kind-hearted side of Chul-Soo when he was married to Soo-Jin. When his wife was slowly forgetting about his existence, his acting skills perhaps helped the film to be dramatic since the audience would sympathize with his predicaments.
Even though the movie was impressive, there were still noticeable problems that might lead to confusions for the viewers. Some scene needs concentration on the character’s conversations. When one of Soo-Jin’s co-worker, who was the fiancée of her ex-lover, told how she ruined a relationship might baffle the viewers if they missed the part. The film was slow in some parts, giving emphasis on small details, which was also a flaw of the movie. If it instead focused more on the relevant scenes, it might help clarify things for the audiences.
The pains of the characters were indeed shown in the movie. However, it lacks on how the couple managed to cope with Soo-Jin’s disease. Perhaps the ending would be better if the film shown the couple during their forty or fifty years of age to indicate that their love survived despite of the challenges that came on their way.
The importance of memory and the act of forgiveness were the two main lessons that could be drawn in the movie. The Alzheimer’s disease represented the memories that people tend to forget but surprisingly, people recall even a fragment of it, which was similar to Soo-Jin’s case. She has forgotten her husband, however, she recalls marrying Chul-Soo for a day. The act of forgiveness was shown by the couple’s relationship with their family. Soo-Jin’s father forgave her even if she had an affair with an engaged man while Chul-Soo forgave his mother when his wife begged him to accept his own mother’s shortcomings.
Loving and appreciating of oneself are also implications that can be deduced in the movie. Chul-Soo learned to love himself when he forgave his mother and he learned to love himself more when he met his wife whom has helped him to change his ways. Another implication is the love of the family, which was represented by Soo-Jin’s father since he forgave her and for accepting her happiness when she chose to marry Chul-Soo.
Fate existed in the film when the couple first met each other. Sometimes, people tend to find destiny as something that might not happened in their lives. However, it somehow happens to everyone even in some simple occurrences. The couple’s first encounter was unexpected and can be presumed that destiny leaded them together. It shows that love and life is sudden which makes people to believe that everything that is happening has its own purpose.
Another implication is that people cannot live alone since they need other people in order to live and enjoy their lives each day. The couple depicted that love can really conquer all and that giving up will lead to the downfall of a relationship.
Although the movie was somehow predictable, the actors, actresses and the plot itself were incomparable because of the uniqueness of the film. It encourages the audience to treasure each day that they have especially with their loved ones. It also helps the viewers that challenges do exist and that they need to overcome it in order to strengthen themselves and their relationship with their loved ones.
Alzheimer’s Disease: A Brief History and Description. In Best Alzheimer’s Product. Retrieved July 30, 2011 from http://www.best-alzheimers-products.com/alzheimer's-disease.html
Alzheimer’s Association. (2011). What is Alzheimer’s? In Alzheimer’s Association. Retrieved August 04, 2011 from www.alz.org/alzheimer’s_disease_alzheimer’s_disease.asp
