With works including David Lynch’s Blue Velvet and Philip Kaufman’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being in her repertoire, Vivien Hillgrove has had a long and successful career as a film editor. She has worked in both sound and picture editing and has contributed to works in both narrative and documentary formats. With over fifty years in the film industry under her belt, she makes her directorial debut with her autobiographical documentary Vivien’s Wild Ride.
Vivien’s Wild Ride is a moving film that details Vivien’s struggle as she loses her eyesight from a disease called dry macular degeneration. After building a career that is so intertwined with who she is as an individual, we journey with her as she faces an unthinkable tragedy that will leave her unable to continue her work as an editor. While she attempts to come to terms with her new normal and what her future may hold, she also reflects on her past. We undergo an exploration of her personal and professional life and how the two combine. The vital choice was made with this film to not focus solely on Vivien’s loss of vision, but rather her story. While the documentary does largely center this new chapter of her life, it doesn’t minimize the rest of her story. This provides a much larger idea of who is Vivien outside of her disease, and how she forged such an impressive career.
Visually this documentary uses fascinating techniques. The filmmaking team faces the challenge of trying to convey to the audience what the world looks like through Vivien’s eyes. As a result of this challenge, the film takes a dive into experimental filmmaking tactics to cut out the central vision that Vivien is missing. This choice is a huge asset to the film and is used sparingly enough that it retains its striking effect on the viewer. The use of layering and overlapping makes the footage disorienting in a way that allows the viewer to truly consider how Vivien must relearn navigate the world.
Vivien’s Wild Ride broaches an incredibly difficult topic. The average viewer is likely not going to understand what a profound loss of identity comes with being unable to continue pursuing what you are passionate about. It is a huge undertaking to connect with an audience who don’t truly know anything about your struggle; to bridge the gap and make the viewer see not just that you’re losing sight, but what that means for you and what it entails. The documentary does this remarkably well. By digging into her roots and her past, Vivien shows us what drives her. Even though she is opening up about her tragedy and the impending inability to continue her life’s work, Vivien shows that she is still fighting to live her life fully.
This was an interesting film that experimented with some uncommon documentary techniques. A moving profile on the life and work of a passionate filmmaker, documentary enjoyers everywhere have a great new film to add to their watchlist.
