Diego is a film director very close to death, surrounded by people who are having trouble dealing with his current tempestuous mood. Chances are he won’t survive, but if he does, that means he needs to relearn how to live.
Willem Dafoe (four-time Oscar nominee) plays Diego Fairman, a talented American filmmaker whose life is quickly changed after he finds out that he has been diagnosed with Lymphatic Cancer. What is interesting is that Diego’s personal journey is, in fact, inspired by Hector Babenco’s own journey, the director of this movie. Babenco, who passed away on July 13th, 2016, and is an Oscar nominee himself, both wrote and directed “My Hindu Friend,” his final feature film.
The movie opens up with Diego being told that he has a disease that might prove to be fatal. His best friend and doctor, Ricardo (Reynaldo Gianecchini), provides him with the news that he will need a bone marrow transplant or he will die. Diego decides to marry his girlfriend Livia (Maria Fernanda Cândido) of many years and they head off to Seattle to get treatment, a last-chance operation in America. He says goodbye to his friends and begins a routine of long days of treatment in the hospital. Diego finds that he is surrounded by people who are having trouble dealing with his current mood from his sickness, which makes him lose his friends and family slowly.
Diego has to learn to live with the pain and the thought of death enters his mind. He then meets a young Hindu boy (Rio Adlakha) who is also a patient and the two become friends. During Diego’s treatment, he and his newfound friend play chess and share stories. However, one day his friend disappears. Diego is then discharged but his life has been forever changed. Unfortunately, we never really know what happens to the boy. We are only left with what our imagination leads us to and that is that the boy has died. However, like us, Diego is curious about what happened to the boy. He finds his marriage falling apart and, living alone, begins to reflect on the simple fact that he may, in fact, be dying and perhaps no one has said anything to him. Eventually, Diego meets another woman and the film ends with her dancing in the rain to the song “Singin’ in the Rain” and while it is unexpected, it fits perfectly.
I found the film to be very good. It’s slow, however, not boring, but it is a movie that makes you think about life and death. Willem Dafoe does an amazing job portraying a film director with cancer. Very natural, very realistic and one feels the despair. Nevertheless, the film, in my opinion, never becomes depressing.
“My Hindu Friend” will receive a limited weeklong theatrical release January 17th in NY, LA, Cleveland, Detroit,
Boston, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Phoenix, Houston, and Chicago
