Alive Inside: A Story of Music and Memory

We need music. That's the message you are going to get from this documentary. And very few are as eye opening as "Alive inside" which takes us into the world of nursing homes in the US. It's easy to forget that there are millions of people living alone with no relatives to pay them a visit. We go on with our daily lives and spend more time talking to strangers on social medias than actually doing something for real people who are there and need us. The scary thing, it's that it might very likely be the way we end up ourselves: sat on a chair in a nursing home while contemplating yet again a plain wall for hours.

What Dan (the protagonist of this documentary) sets to do is to show the power of alternative therapies for people with Dementia, or simply people who have forgotten all about their lives. And his soothing therapy couldn't be simpler: Music! That's right! nothing else. We see the residents of these nursing homes with broken spirits, unable to articulate a sentence, incapable of remember any details from the past. Surprisingly, the moment they are exposed to music, memories come back to them. A spark lightens up in their eyes, they even dance, and start talking more than they ever did. Music makes them cry, laugh, jump. As one of them says: "It makes me feel like I have a girl and I can hug her".

How can music be so powerful? some bits are explained in the documentary, so I hope you will find the time to watch it. While it might not be the best edited piece of film making around, for the sake of its content, you should definitely give it go!

I saw the trailer for the film on YouTube. As I'm just beginning a new career in aged care, I've been inspired to use music with residents - recorded music, singing to them*, and involving them in community singalongs. While my experience has been brief so far, I have seen in some residents the transformation which music gives (though nowhere near as dramatic as Henry in the clip).

*I'm not much of a singer, but that doesn't make a difference if I can find the right songs.

Inspired by the clip, I bought the DVD.

It was one of the most positive films I've seen for a long time. It brought tears to the eyes seeing some of the transformation brought about by music. It was wonderful, seeing a way that some joy can be brought back to some people.

I know that a film like that will only show the most positive stories, and I've seen first hand that many more people will not have the reactions shown.

But there has been enough of a transformation in some of the stories shown to continue to inspire me to look for opportunities to give just a little bit of joy to some people.

Thank you so much to the filmmakers and storymakers for showing the possibilities.

What if there were a truly inexpensive way to materially improve the lives of Alzheimer's sufferers and those who have other forms of dementia? If you see "Alive Inside," you will discover that there is such a thing. All it takes is an Apple iPod and the right music--music from the person's past. The music makes a connection with portions of the brain least ravaged by neurological disorders and it connects with the person that's still alive inside. Really alive.

This film shows you the proof, over and over again. The demonstration of the power of music from a person's past being able to bring the person into the present seems irrefutable. It is miraculous but you won't believe unless you see the film.

To think that a $40 music player and headphones can do what drugs cannot is mindblowing. The music doesn't necessarily extend a person's life the way drugs do, but it does awaken the person. Patient after patient shown in this movie awakens as the camera watches. The effects and the repeatability are positively stunning.

This film is about to go into limited distribution. It will be showing in San Jose at the Camera 7 theater starting August 8. Please find a way to see this film. It will change lives.

We saw this movie as part of the San Jose Camera Cinema Club and it was one of the most moving films we've seen through this organization.

"Alive Inside" is the work of director/writer Michael Rossato-Bennett and Dan Cohen, who is the founder of the nonprofit organization Music & Memory. Cohen goes into nursing homes and sets patients up with ipods and earphones, and plays the patient's favorite music. This is sometimes learned from the family, sometimes from the patient, sometimes it's an educated guess.

The transformation in these patients is, I guarantee you, one of the most remarkable things you will ever see. It is pointed out that there is no medicine that can do this for these people, that they are overmedicated, and that the U.S. can save literally billions and billions of dollars by introducing this program into nursing homes. And it keeps elders out of those same nursing homes and with their families.

The music awakens memories in the person, it socializes them in a way they haven't been before, it calms them, it brings a smile to their faces. People who were sitting slumped over in a wheelchair not only begin to sing but dance. Truly remarkable.

The film shows one woman who has been cared by her husband for ten years without medication by playing her music for her.

I have never seen anything like this documentary, and it has really caught on with the public. A youtube video of one patient, Henry, went completely viral; the states of Wisconsin and Utah are adopting the program into all of their nursing homes, and the list of nursing homes incorporating Cohen's program is growing daily.

What Music & Memory needs now are donations, headphones, and ipods. These are always a need, though I suspect once this documentary is released he will have much more support -- but he will also have a lot more interested nursing homes and people.

The idea is to not throw away our elderly, but to involve the younger generation so that they can receive the gifts these wonderful people have to offer.

Alive Inside is opening nationwide but only in some major cities. Hopefully this will be on demand on cable, and the DVD itself is going to become available. I urge you not to miss this incredible documentary. It will be a life-changing experience not only for you but for your loved ones.

The discovery that music, when carefully selected for and played to individual dementia patents, can bring them out of their depressed stupor, and/or calm them down when agitated -- is simply profound.

The documentary is very professional and does a fine job of illuminating this new and major movement throughout the "rest homes" of the world -- one which even eliminates the need for a rest home in some cases.

If you were afraid to see yet another "depressing account" of the state of our elderly -- don't be! This is anything but depressing (for the most part) as it demonstrates what is possibly the greatest (and mostly hidden) wealth within each of our minds: music.

Seems that a sense of and remembrance of music is one of the last things to go in our brains when we age. Not only is the music shown to be enjoyable by elderly, but, as shown succinctly in this film, the right music can unlock many other memories, leading to an obvious joy of heart.

Watch it and be truly amazed, even crying with joy.