Product Review

Stephen Jenkinson, a Harvard educated theologian, is one of Canada's leading palliative care educators. Also considered a philosopher, woodsman, boatsman, and bard, Jenkinson travels throughout Canada providing grief counseling. He rejects the notion of acceptance, deeming it too neutral a disposition. He insists the one true answer is an embrace of death. In order to love life, we need to love death. Filmmaker and friend Tim Wilson presents Jenkinson with an unclouded eye. Appearing onscreen together, their relationship is complex and occasionally combative. Reverent and respectful but clearly obsessed with death, Jenkinson is an enigmatic figure who can easily shift from talkative to terse. Captured with a cinematic eye, this lyrical, haunting documentary exhibits an unparalleled understanding of mortality.