The Long Goodbye is simply shot, containing almost no narrative or exposition. It follows a handful of residents at a care facility for the elderly in Taipei and talks to their families about the struggles they face when dealing with an aging relative suffering from various degenerative mental conditions, primarily Alzheimer’s.

Yang does not explain the condition, its treatment nor the prognosis of the sufferers. He simply points his camera at those living with the disease and their families and caretakers. The results are at turns devastatingly sad and desperate, with humbling moments of humor and joy.

Looming over every scene is the reality that the world’s population is aging and this fate–the slow, confusing descent into incomprehension and dementia–awaits many of us. Counterbalancing this is the tenderness and care demonstrated by both the sons and daughters of these sufferers and the nursing home staff. Their patience and love is as tear-jerking as the scenes of the elderly struggling to cope with a world that no longer makes sense.

Yang’s previous documentary, Young at Heart, told the story of a group of over-65-year-old cheerleaders who performed at the World Games in Taiwan in 2009. If you can get a copy, watch the two films together. The positivity of Young at Heart provides a welcome counterbalance to the sadder moments here. Having said that, The Long Goodbye is not relentlessly bleak. There are moments of humor and light-heartedness, plus fascinating memories as the elderly subjects recall their escape from the Chinese Mainland to Taiwan at the end of the civil war. One old man tells how he was sent back to the Chinese Mainland on a failed mission to assassinate Mao Zedong, though whether this is true or an aspect of dementia is impossible to ascertain.

The care these elderly people receive in Taiwan is decent, though Yang never explains whether it’s state-provided or paid for by their relatives. One can only imagine what the care available for Alzheimer’s sufferers on the Mainland is like. But this is precisely why Yang’s documentary is important: given its rapidly aging population, within the next 30 or 40 years millions of people in China will be afflicted by the disease. The question of their care is a problem that the young–all of us–should be addressing right now.

The Long Goodbye is available on DVD in Chinese with English subtitles.