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Watch “The Passing.”
The New Yorker Documentary
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During the COVID-19 shutdown, the filmmakers Patrick Bresnan and Ivete Lucas started spending more time with their neighbors. Across the street lived Michael Mullen, a local veterinarian who had become known for his compassionate euthanasia practice. Bresnan and Lucas learned that his practice was based on making house calls, and that he had developed an approach to putting down pets that made the process easier for both the animals and the humans involved. In “The Passing,” the pair follow Mullen on several house visits, with particular focus on the experience of another neighbor, who is preparing to say goodbye to her elderly dog. Filming that intimate moment required a delicate touch. Lucas says that she thinks of this type of filmmaking as “radical presence,” a combination of documenting the moment and participating in it. The result is a moving portrait of the kind of experience that mostly takes place behind closed doors. Bresnan says, “Working on the film showed us about how to approach death with courage.” Lucas added, “I want to live in a world where we are able to talk about death and experience it together.”
Sourse: newyorker.com
