The Patron Saints

As North America stumbles towards having its largest elderly population in history, the role of nursing homes becomes increasingly significant. The Patron Saints is the first feature from Brian M. Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky, the team that brought us the unusual and evocative Hurricane Katrina short God Provides. The pair’s latest film is an unorthodox documentary about a home for the aged and disabled. By turns lyrical and unsettling, it eschews more traditional approaches to the subject, opting for a highly atmospheric treatment and turning narration over to the home’s youngest patient, Jim.

At this particular facility, the staff are competent, even kind; questions of treatment and care are not the focus. What takes centre stage are the fascinating patients and the hyperrealistic portraits Cassidy and Shatzky create of them. Add to this Jim’s candid and disturbing confessions about his fellow residents — which are laced with his staccato laugh — and the film dips into black humour.

Journeying through day-to-day life at the institution, we are introduced to the patients in scenes that range from absurd to haunting. Some of their stories and situations are heartbreaking. We learn that Rosemary, a bed-bound woman who clings to baby rattles, had been brutalized by her brother. Florence, dignified yet suffering from dementia, asks relentlessly what she’s doing there and where her mother is. Medication routines, roommate bickering, emotional family visits and a bizarre Valentine’s Day celebration build towards an unflinching, almost surreal look at the reality these patients face.

The Patron Saints will undoubtedly call to mind the work of documentary great Allan King, though the approach here is vastly different. A near-tableau style imbues the film with a sense of stillness, with movement reserved for the bustling staff or the planes and trucks that pass by the isolated home. Just as the patients struggle to comprehend their lives, the documentary is filled with images that create indelible impressions and ask us to make sense of the sometimes incongruous. With masterfully constructed tone and atmosphere, this is a heightened and rewarding cinematic experience. –TIFF