Later We Care

Following the death of her husband, the elderly mother of filmmaker Claire Pijman moves to Amsterdam, to be near her daughters and grandchildren. Initially, she moves in with Claire, but when a ground-floor apartment becomes available on the same street, she goes to live there. Claire and her sister try to combine the care of their increasingly senile mother with their work and family. And this is how it should be -- Claire is utterly convinced of that. But as her mother's decline continues, things become increasingly difficult. Claire and her sister look on despairingly as their mother's world shrinks and her loneliness increases, despite all their efforts and their attempts to come up with pleasant ways for her to spend her time. Ultimately, admission to a nursing home seems inevitable. Pijman documents daily life during the last years of her mother's life. This poignant film illustrates personal dilemmas through intimate observations and openhearted discussions. The helpless look the mother gives her daughter when a social worker asks her how many children she has, and her mental absence at a party where she seems unable to join in the conversation, powerfully evoke the sense of sadness, guilt, and powerlessness that accompany the inevitable farewell.