Allan King was 79. He was the acclaimed Canadian documentarian who took viewers on a harrowing journey into a home for troubled children in "Warrendale" and trained his unflinching lens on a crumbling marriage in "A Married Couple."
I record The View From Here, a fantastic documentary series that airs on TVOntario. A recent doc that aired during this program struck such a chord in me I haven't been able to let it go. It was called "Dying At Grace" and it was an Allan King film.
As recently as yesterday I was telling my mom about "Dying At Grace", a film I urge you to see next time it's on television. It's about five patients dying in the Palliative Care Unit of the Salvation Army Toronto Grace Health Centre. We meet them, spend time with them and then we watch them die.
We literally watch them take their last breath. It's terribly chilling, totally effective, and in many ways, absolutely reassuring. A fantastic documentary form a fantastic filmmaker who will be missed.
Here's Allan King talking about making "Dying At Grace."
