Michel Gouilloud and Patrice Regnier had been together for eighteen years when, in 1994, as a result of medical tests for Michel's minor muscular problems, the sentence fell like a knife: Michel had one of the most terrible neurological illnesses, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). ALS causes rapid muscular paralysis, then it becomes impossible to talk, to eat, and finally to breath. The patient remains completely lucid to the end, with all his feelings and intellect fully intact.
That was the future that was suddenly facing Michel, 64 years old, and Patrice, who was only 41. They decided to film this stage of their life together up to Michel's death. A death that was "planned", since Michel, knowing how the illness progresses, had decided to opt for "assisted suicide" when he reached the point at which he could no longer eat without a feeding tube or no longer breath without a breathing machine. Euthanasia was practiced discreetly at that time in the medical milieu in southern France.
To learn more about the film and Michel and Patrice's story, visit: http://movinggracefullythefilm.com/