A universal experience whether or not we can admit it, death is the sole counterpart to life. From the moment we take our first breath, death is our only guaranteed experience. This is something Stephen Jenkinson not only understands but something he loves. And he wants you to feel the same way. Griefwalker, a feature length documentary by Tim Wilson, sets its lens on Jenkinson in an unforgettable exploration of death phobia as a culture.

Stephen Jenkinson, a Harvard educated theologian, is one of Canada’s leading palliative care educators. Also considered a philosopher, woodsman, boatsman, and bard, Jenkinson travels throughout Canada providing grief counseling. He rejects the notion of acceptance, deeming it too neutral a disposition. He insists the one true answer is an embrace of death. In order to love life, we need to love death.

Filmmaker and friend Tim Wilson presents Jenkinson with an unclouded eye. Appearing onscreen together, their relationship is complex and occasionally combative. Reverent and respectful but clearly obsessed with death, Jenkinson is an enigmatic figure who can easily shift from talkative to terse. Captured with a cinematic eye, this lyrical, haunting documentary exhibits an unparalleled understanding of mortality.
 
 

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Video Librarian Review May/June 2010
Rating: 3 out of 4 Stars - Recommended!

Stephen Jenkinson, the subject of Griefwalker, is a graduate of the Harvard Divinity School, but as a counselor to the terminally ill and their families at a Toronto hospital, he eschews taking a religious approach to preparing for death, except in the broadest sense. Noting that most patients are anxious over the prospect of dying and that treatment aimed at merely reducing pain doesn’t deal with the reality of what’s to come, Jenkinson embraces the cultural ideas of Canadian Indians—encouraging those he counsels to see their imminent demise not as something to be resisted and feared, but rather as a natural and necessary part of life that should be accepted. Director Tim Wilson, who became acquainted with Jenkinson when he was diagnosed with a serious condition himself, gives Jenkinson ample opportunity to offer his message in direct conversation and in voiceover passages set against beautiful rustic visuals. Griefwalker also follows Jenkinson as he visits patients, including a woman with cancer concerned about leaving her husband behind, and a couple whose young daughter is close to death. Griefwalker sometimes moves at a stately pace and occasionally strains for the poetic, but its critique of the modern Western way of looking at death is persuasive, and the alternative Jenkinson offers seems both profound and—judging from the reactions of those he helps—often very effective. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)