HELEN AND THE BEAR

(Check out Matt Delman’s Helen and the Bear movie review. The film is now streaming online through April 13 as part of the Cleveland Film Festival. Seen it? Join the conversation with HtN on our Letterboxd Page.)

What constitutes a marriage as ‘traditional’ is beyond me. But director Alix Blair suspected something was unique about her aunt and uncle’s marriage, based off her mother’s gossip. This only intrigued Alix more, and she decided to make a documentary about her aunt Helen Hooper and uncle Pete McCloskey, a 1970s California Republican congressman who vehemently opposed the Vietnam war, and was the first to publicly call for Nixon’s resignation. Blair takes the point of view of Helen, who now must deal with Pete’s old age, and become his caretaker. Though their chemistry never truly fades, they acknowledge that moving on to this new stage of life has a different set of challenges. All of this results in the in the intimate and vivid doc, Helen and the Bear.

Helen maintains the farm with no shortage of cute animals, including a rag-tag crew of mutts. There are so many different animals that one is surely going to die by the end of the film. Pete is no longer able to help with the farm chores, and he’s cognizant of the burden he has put on Helen. In his younger years he was a Republican congressman, but now he hates Trump. A scene in which they watch the returns of the 2016 election, unmoving from the couch for several days, is telling.

Getting into their past is where the doc finds a new gear, particularly the queer aspect of Helen’s life, as she carried on a secret intimate relationship with a woman for many years. Pete had his own dalliances, but a politician’s wife dating another woman was particularly controversial back then, and still would be today. Pete’s first wife left him because he spent all his time working, and it’s easy to see how Helen would need to fill that same void. A scene where Pete’s grown daughter from his first marriage makes a visit emphasizes how he was an absent father. If there’s any resentment towards Pete for not being present, it is ultimately overcome by pride in his accomplishments.

In retirement Helen and Pete take road trips in their RV, accompanied by their dogs, including one furbaby who enjoys chewing on the parking brake to the point of it not working anymore. The road trip to the national parks gives some motion and energy to the middle of the film, a wise assemblage choice. Executive Producer Kirsten Johnson (Cameraperson) gave feedback on the various cuts and you can feel her fingerprints, especially on the pacing, though Blair’s own editing is to be highly commended. While it may have some K.J.-DNA it is wholly Blair’s vision and personal family story. Initially I thought the film would be about mortality, like Dick Johnson is Dead, but it is more about companionship and forgiveness. Helen and the Bear is a gorgeously shot, vivid portrait of two passionate people navigating this crazy world together.

– Matthew Delman (@ItsTheRealDel)

Alix Blair; Helen and the Bear

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