Much Ado About Dying

Simon Chambers documents the decline of his uncle in a film which might prove too daunting for some.

This is a film about having to face up to old age. Shot over five years by Simon Chambers who doubles as director and photographer, it's a wholly personal work since its central figure is Simon's own uncle, the retired actor David Newlyn Gale. He is already an octogenarian when he contacts his nephew to say that he thinks he might be dying. When he gets this message Simon is in New Delhi where he is making a documentary film, but he nevertheless responds by putting his project to one side and flying to London where his uncle is living alone.

Simon soon discovers that he has been lured back under somewhat fall pretences since, as David admits to him later on, he would probably not wish to live to a hundred but is aiming at 91. As it turns out, the next four years will for Simon be dominated by the task of looking after this man whose prime need is to combat his loneliness. Simon, less than satisfied with his own life, accepts the role that has virtually been imposed on him and enlivens David's existence by filming him throughout this period. David may not have been a distinguished actor but he clearly relishes being the focus of this film and loves to quote from Shakespeare, not least from King Lear since he can find echoes of the king’s decline in his own situation.

David Newlyn Gale is certainly a bit of a performer and can be difficult too, yet he readily acknowledges that he is an obstinate old man. Even though he has to contend regularly with serious health issues, he is often remarkably high-spirited albeit that his home is in a truly terrible and utterly unkempt state and crammed with possessions because he keeps everything. If David turns to Simon to look after him rather than to Simon’s sisters who are nearer to hand it is partly because he finds them too bossy. But in addition, there is a bond that stems from the fact that uncle and nephew are both gay. That could lead people to suppose that Much Ado About Dying should be categorised as a gay film, but that aspect is really incidental. It is not ignored however. We learn that David only came out at 62 and has never had a partner and that Simon, in contrast, acknowledged his sexuality at 23 but virtually went back into the closet at 36. Just as David is fully open about the bad days in his life, his vulnerability and the accidents that can happen (extending even to his home going up in flames), so too there is a suggestion that Simon is worried that his old age could be similar. But there is little here that could not apply equally to a heterosexual man, be he a bachelor or a widower, including the risk of being exploited by somebody after your money (David has had a married male carer whom he fell for and who successfully asked for large sums of money).

The title of this film with its play on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing fits in with the notion that despite David’s serious state there is much here that is comic. Some details certainly play that way, but the film’s honest presentation of old age caused me for one to find this a decidedly downbeat experience even if ultimately David does find that approaching death enables him to come to terms with life. At least he is able to afford ending his days in Denville Hall, the celebrated care home for retired actors. But, whatever one’s personal response to the balance here between the comic elements and the frequent emphasis on disturbing realities, this film is undoubtedly very well made. In his capacity as photographer, Simon Chambers does a fine job (the atmosphere of South London is well captured) and he himself speaks the voice commentary which is substantial but which is so tellingly detailed and so in balance with the film’s visual impact that these two sides match up perfectly. Claire Ferguson’s editing is also an asset here and the film could hardly be more able. Indeed, the only real question mark about it lies in the fact that Much Ado About Dying is so much darker than its sprightly trailer leads one to expect. Yet it is unquestionably the case that on a personal level Simon Chambers can be proud of the way in which he has enabled David Newlyn Gale to take screen centre. As an acknowledgment of David’s existence and of a life passing, his film finds the perfect note on which to conclude by quoting Shakespeare yet again, but this time The Tempest and its famous evocation of lives being rounded with a sleep.

MANSEL STIMPSON

Featuring  David Newlyn Gale, Simon Chambers, Zibby Gajewski, Beata Florczyk, Bobby Mill, Billy, Shamal Galetti, Biddy Chambers, Rosy Howneth, Philippa Birch, Elzbieta Marjanska, Ajayvir Singh Thakur, Indrajeet Dixit, Godwin Amidu.

Dir Simon Chambers, Pro David Rane and Simon Chambers, Screenplay Simon Chambers, Ph Simon Chambers, Ed Claire Ferguson, Music Irene Buckley.

Soilsú Films/Tiffin Films-Cosmic Cat.
84 mins. UK/Ireland. 2022. US Rel: 15 March 2024. UK Rel: 3 May 2024. Cert. 15.