Having known some people with Alzheimer's, it seems to me that Clarence's dementia progressed much more rapidly than is realistic (assuming that is what he had). He seemed to go from being slightly forgetful but entirely lucid to being completely out of it overnight (i.e. graveyard scene where he keeps saying that the name on the tombstone is the same as his wife's).
shareGenerally speaking, it is a very slow (in some cases, years) working disease. However, we aren't really shown the time lapse in the movie. It could be that a few weeks passed here and there.
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I thought the last 15 mins of the film all felt very rushed exemplified by Clarence being fine one moment and then in the full swing of Alzheimers the next.
My grandfather had Alzheimers around the time this film was set. I still remember the first sign (I bought him some batteries for 80p and he gave me £80)but little did we realise what was awaiting the family 4 years later. Dreadful disease - great film.
As has been mentioned, it's not really clear what time elapses.
But also, do you know think it could be somewhat symbolic, with regards to the end ? ie. he IS in a kind of 'limbo' of grief that causes him mental and physical anguish, yet once 'Annie' has forgiven him in the car, he finds peace. The last time we see him is relaxing comfortably on the bed, saying goodbye to Edward when he goes to the cinema. I'm pretty sure it's meant to be the same night that when Edward returns, Clarence has passed.
The movie starts at Christmas time. Sometime after Christmas Clarence arrives - he says that he didn't want to come although he had to probably because he was showing early signs. Time passes and by the end when Edward is listening to his recordings of Clarence he mentions that it is October. So by the time Clarence dies, it could be a few months or several months pass. Just guessing but since they don't mention Christmas again - it probably spans a little less than a full year...
shareAlso, I don't think it's that far-fetched. He's been struggling with it, evidenced by forgetting he's picked up his pension, writing things on his hands, crashing his truck, etc. He's been struggling to hold it together, struggling to keep it hidden and retain some semblance of his old self. His last shred of identity is his skill as a magician, but when he messes up the trick at the party, it hits him so hard he breaks. I think at that point, he gives up or is too heart-broken to continue fighting and that's why he goes downhill so rapidly.
I knew an old guy with early-stage dementia, diabetes, cancer, partial blindness, and he was the sprightliest, healthiest old guy you'd ever met. Then one day he fell over and broke his hip - within two days, he had no idea who anybody was, and a couple of days later he was dead. It seems to me you can 'rage, rage against the dying of the light' all you want, but a shock to the system can bring it all crashing down. For Clarence, that shock was the guillotine trick, and from that moment, he was finished.