Brad Oswald wrote a review of The Suicide Tourist on November 24, 2007 for the Winnipeg Free Press. Mr. Oswald and the Winnipeg Free Press have been kind enough to grant permission for us to reprint the article below.
Assisted suicide doc powerful, whatever your view“I’VE got death, and I’ve got suffering and death… This (choice) makes a whole lot of sense to me.”
It’s hard to dispute the logic employed by retired computer-science professor Craig Ewert as he explains the hard decision he has made to end his own life. The 59-year-old American is one of the subjects of the stunningly powerful feature-length W-FIVE documentary The Suicide Tourist, which airs tonight at 7 on CTV. Whether you’re intrigued or deeply offended by the notion of assisted suicide, his is a story that deserves to be heard.
In making The Suicide Tourist, filmmaker John Zaritsky (The Wild Horse Redemption, Romeo and Juliet in Sarajevo) spent the better part of the year tracking the progress of two couples as they sought the help of a Zurich-based organization known as Dignitas. Assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland, but Dignitas is the only agency that extends the option to foreigners.
Most of The Suicide Tourist focuses on the last few days of Ewert’s life, as he and his wife prepare to make the trip from their temporary home in England to the Zurich apartment used by Dignitas to carry out its assisted suicides.
After being diagnosed with a rapidly progressing form of ALS — the crippling motor-neuron affliction also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease — Ewert, supported by his wife and children, decided that it would be better to opt for a dignified death at the time of his choice than to linger in a vegetative state after all his motor functions had shut down.
“I’ve deteriorated enough,” he says. “You can only watch so much of yourself drain away before you kind of look at what’s left and say, ‘This is an empty shell.’”
The key to determining the timeline for his Swiss-assisted exit is the extent of his remaining physical functions. Ewert has already lost the use of his arms and most of the use of his legs, and must breathe with the aid of a respirator. In order to carry out his plan, he must still have the ability to swallow, because Swiss law requires active participation in the process, which involves a lethal dose of prescription sedative.
Zaritsky — a best-documentary Oscar winner in 1982 for his film Just Another Missing Kid — follows the Ewerts as they meet with the director of Dignitas, and later as they consult with the doctor who must assess his condition and motives before providing the drugs needed for the suicide.
He also follows a Vancouver couple, George and Betty Coumbias, who have decided they want to end their lives together. He’s in declining health, having suffered four heart attacks in recent years; she’s completely healthy, but has stated in no uncertain terms that she does not wish to live without him.
Their meeting with a Swiss physician — the same one who approved Ewert’s suicide — does not go well; he rejects their request, stating that even George’s condition is not sufficiently grave to justify an assisted suicide. They return to Canada disappointed but still determined to find a way to die together.
But Ewert’s plan continues on schedule; Zaritsky’s camera follows as he travels to Switzerland and prepares for the end.
“I’m scared,” he tells his wife along the way. “It feels bizarre. Obviously, it’s the first time I’ve ever done this.”
And then he does it, with the help of a Dignitas aide. With his wife at his bedside, and in full command of the decision, Ewert chooses death.
Whether you condone or condemn his choice, it’s undoubtedly one of the most emotional moments you’ll ever see on television.
brad.oswald@freepress.mb.ca
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/