Educational Media Reviews Online

What if, in dealing with a loved elder’s slow decline from dementia, we approached it with curiosity, as an opportunity to learn and to give devotion, rather than with fear and sorrow? This is the approach taken in the lovely, mesmerizing documentary, Wisdom Gone Wild.

A portrait of Rose (Akiko) Tajiri, a spirited, funny Asian woman, which skillfully presents the day-to-day realities of her current life while interspersing those scenes with archival video and photographs from her fascinating history, the film is directed by her daughter Rea Tajiri. The family’s and caregivers’ loving, tender interactions with Rose, even on the occasions when she is frustrated and lashes out at them, is captured honestly, while the revelations about her past (such as her family’s incarceration in the Japanese American internment camps during World War II) are gradually offered as rare gifts of insight into who she was and is. The quirks of Alzheimer’s progression, such as the “folding over” of her own memories with those of family members and friends, are presented with wonder rather than dismay.

The film is beautifully produced with an artistic eye for composition and an unhurried pace. Wisdom Gone Wild will be appreciated by most audiences, especially those with an interest in aging.

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