Dick Johnson is dead. Or is he?
Dick Johnson is Dead (2020) by Kirsten Johnson: 8/10
At first thought, the concept of repeatedly pretending to kill off one’s own father through eccentrically staged death scenes may seem shocking. And, it is. However, Netflix’s Dick Johnson Is Dead seems to perfectly balance absurdly comical moments with its melancholic undertone. After all, this is a film about life, just as much as it is about death.
Filmmaker Kirsten Johnson (Cameraperson, Citizenfour) is attempting to come to terms with the inevitable death of her lovable father, Dick Johnson. The loss of those close to us is a terrible part of the magic of being alive, and many of us will be able to relate to Kirsten’s fear of losing her father.
We are immediately introduced to their tight-knit relationship as Dick plays with his grandchildren, with Kirsten behind the camera warning him not to slip on the hay beneath his feet. He slips anyway, but seems more concerned about whether she managed to get it on camera. Kirsten states at the beginning, that the idea of losing her father is too much to bear, and as a response, she suggested they make a movie about him dying - to which he said yes.
For a long time, Dick worked as a psychiatrist, but some years ago, he was diagnosed with dementia and had to close his practice after it was found he had been double booking his patients. Memory, and the loss of it, serves as a main theme throughout the documentary as Johnson delves into her family history. We see home video style footage of Kirsten’s mother, unable to remember the name of her daughter, and Kirsten regretfully shares that the only footage she has of her warm and brilliant mother is from when she was suffering with the disease. The family are no stranger to tragedy, and, through narration, Kirsten voices what can perhaps be considered the heart of the film and it’s message - ‘It would be so easy if loving only gave us the beautiful, but what loving demands is that we face the fear of losing each other.’
We are presented with several eccentrically staged scenes throughout the film, all resulting in the ‘death’ of Dick Johnson. The scenes are often absurd or gruesome, like an air conditioner falling on his head from a window above. Alongside, and perhaps contradicting these grisly death scenes, are idyllic fantasy-like sequences such as Dick being welcomed to heaven, into the open arms of Bruce Lee, Frida Kahlo and Sigmund Freud, to name a few. Kirsten records take after take of narration from her closet, often fooling the audience into believing her father is dead when he isn’t, suggesting that she is unafraid of showing how easily the lines between fiction and reality can be blurred.
The concept of repeatedly pretending to kill off one’s own father through eccentrically staged death scenes may seem shocking…
The more the film continues, and the more profound his dementia becomes, the more the audience will begin to question the ethics surrounding just how much Dick is able to consent to in filming. It seems that Kirsten is starkly aware of the problem too as she questions her fathers limits. Ethical issues come up a lot in documentary filmmaking, but what can be said with Dick Johnson is Dead, is that Dick is happy enough to go along with it all, revelling in the madness and enjoying the opportunity to bond with his daughter.
For the most part, Dick Johnson is Dead manages to approach death in a lighthearted way, and this is surely a strength of the film. But, it is perhaps in the carefully integrated breathing moments where the true power of the film lies, allowing the viewer a chance to reflect on their own relationship with loss, before throwing us into another extravagant spectacle. Johnson’s filmmaking will both move and surprise you until the very end.
This documentary is a clear response to grief, a coping mechanism, and through this touching and intimate portrait of her father, Kirsten Johnson frankly confronts what most of us are too afraid to. Dick Johnson will die, and that’s a fact, but he will certainly live on in the memory of those who know him, even after his own memory fades. And, if we’re lucky, the same might be said for the rest of us.
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