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120 of 128 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Winged Cognition, July 15, 2007
27 year old Sarah Polley made her directorial debut for a feature film with this movie. She had previously directed four short films, and a TV episode. Most of her past notoriety was for being a fine actress, having already appeared in more than 50 films since 1985. She was 9 years old when she did Terry Gilliam's ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN (1988). She spent several years as a child star on the television series ROAD TO AVONLEA. She appeared in THE SWEET HEREAFTER, GUINEVERE, and in THE CLAIM (2000). Recently I enjoyed her work with Sam Shepard in Wim Wender's DON'T COME KNOCKING (2005).
Polley's mother died when she was 11 years old. She considers actress Julie Christie to be her "surrogate mother". She worked with her twice before in NO SUCH THING (2000), and LIFE OF WORDS (2005). Originally Polley wanted to do a feature film about a 12 year old girl who finds herself being the star of a TV series, something she knows a little about -but there was no financial interest. Then she went with adapting a short story she liked by Alice Munro, THE BEAR CAME OVER THE MOUNTAIN. She wrote the screenplay with Julie Christie specifically in mind to play Fiona.
The film's plot revolves around a retired 60ish professor who lives a comfortable lifestyle with his gorgeous wife in a cabin his mother used to own. They are forced to face the harsh reality of the wife's impending cognitive decline secondary to Alzheimer's disease. While still coherent, Fiona (Julie Christie) convinces her husband, Grant (Gordon Pinsent) that it would be prudent to allow her to check herself into a special retirement home that specializes in Alzheimer's patients. Reluctantly, the husband agreed. The institution had a 30-day waiting period before the first family visit to allow new residents to "settle in". When Grant came for his first visit he found himself greeted with a blank stare. Fiona no longer seemed to recognize him. Worse still, she had become emotionally attached to another patient -Aubrey, a mute in a wheelchair.
How far can love be stretched before it lapses into heartache? Yet the textures of this plot are turgid, and darker forces yet are at work. As a popular professor, Grant had had several affairs in the past with nubile female student admirers. It appeared that Fiona forgave him and stayed with him into their retirement -but had she? I am told, and have read that realistically Alzheimer's does not progress so aggressively in just 30 days. So was Fiona punishing Grant? Was she still capable of such a callous and shrewd machination? Perhaps.
The dialogue crackles with Stoppard-like language -most of which it seems came directly out of the Munro manuscript. But young Sarah Polley did shed some important light on several salient issues, with the real tragedy of Alzheimer's being only the tip of the iceberg; things like the reality of physical love and sex amongst seniors, forgiveness -or lack of it after decades of matrimony, and the tedious toll of unresolved regrets. Julie Christie is still radiant, sexy, and beautiful in her 60's. She makes a lot out of Fiona -savoring a plum role. Gordon Pinsent, a Canadian veteran of more than 100 films, is wonderful as Grant, showering us with his compassion, his nobility, and the unsavory aspects of his complex personality. Olympia Dukakis was perky, pessimistic, and a chain smoker as Aubrey's wife Marion -becoming Grant's new "girlfriend" in an odd plot twist. Michael Murphy did a lot through his eyes at the mute Aubrey. Kristin Thomson stole every scene she appeared in as Nurse Kristy.
This thoughtful little film challenges our preconceived notions about older adults. Although it does not pack the dramatic punch of a film like IRIS (2000) with Judi Dench, it sweeps us onto fresh plateaus of consideration, and it creates a lot for us to ponder.
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67 of 72 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Dance while you can, July 26, 2007
AWAY FROM HER is a film about an elderly couple that copes with Alzheimer's disease. Director Sarah Polley take's Alice Munro's short story, "The Bear Came Over the Mountain," and shows viewers the relationship between Fiona (Julie Christie) and Grant (Gordon Pinsent). Although the film is based on Munro's story, Polley adds more to the film's storyline, such as her focus on Grant's denial and slow acceptance of Fiona's deteriorating condition, and the long drawn out scenes at Meadowlake, the facility where Fiona decides to spend the rest of her life, which adds another dimension to story and the film.
Polley does a fine job in showing the intricacies that may occur in a marriage. The film takes place in Ontario, Canada, where a somewhat remote and snow-covered landscape captures the cold and emotionless feelings between Grant and Fiona. With the use of subtle home movie-like snapshots that capture the couple's past, the images show the irony of their lives; this is yet another film where the dialogue between the characters are short and ambiguous, but their facial expression fill-in the gaps where nothing is said as well as the film's soundtrack which complement the scenes.
The film is purely fiction but interesting. Grant shows his undying love for Fiona by making her as comfortable as possible - he comes to visit her everyday and reads her favorite books about Iceland; she does not remember being from Iceland. And when Grant finds out that Fiona befriends one of the residents at Meadowlake, Aubrey (Michael Murphy), he is somewhat resilient and disconcerted with her behavior, but eventually accepts it in order to make her happy. In turn, Grant has an unusual meeting/affair with Aubrey's wife, Marion (Olympia Dukakis).
Although a few of the scenes may not be realistic, AWAY FROM HER is an intriguing film that confronts the issue of Alzheimer's disease. It is moving and thought provoking, and it will definitely leave a lasting impression on the viewer.
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57 of 61 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
How Many of Us Would Settle for What We Eventually Get?, September 11, 2007
There is a line from YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU in which Grandpa asks:
"How many of us, when we're young, would settle for what we eventually get?"
What is extraordinary about Julie Christie's performance in this film is that Fiona settles for, and builds upon, what life deals her with a level of emotional discipline half inspiring, half maddening to her husband.
As the husband, Gordon Pinsent delivers a performance as racked with confusion, pain and nuance as any I have seen in movies for years. The complexity of his character is as enigmatic as Fiona's. Together, their love story provides hope for anyone who has stopped believing in love.
While this film sheds light on Fiona's descent into Alzheimer's disease, the film is neither about dementia nor is it about the hopelessness that often surrounds it. It is about the unexpected storms that overtake relationships and the ways in which two good people come to grips with disruption. For Alice Munro, whose story provides the basis of the screenplay, love is riddled with extraordinary pain, but it often conquers the odds.
Gorgeous nature cinematography is a character in the film. In the opening scene, as in occasional scenes after, the lovers cross-country ski across frozen landscapes suffused with an Alpine glow. They are at peace, saying few words but sharing what could never be spoken.
The scene in which Fiona, sensing her decline into dementia, becomes momentarily lost -- only to become a snow angel, suggests that even early dementia has its respite.
Thre were a number of minor issues that troubled me. Julie Christie's American/Canadian accent wasn't persuasive at the start. The example the director uses to objectify early dementia -- putting an object to be refrigerated into a cabinet -- is too common to be considered aberrant.
The nurse overseeing Fiona's unit delves a to deeply into the history of the couple, more than is believable. In turn, the nursing home admin is just a too evil to fit into the world we know. Many administrators are kind but impotent. Some rage against the undue influence of physicians over their nurses prevails.
Love scenes between unlikely bedfellows seem superfluous here, even though they can and do occur in "real life."
The final scene, which I will not disclose, is worth the trip. It summarizes, in brief, passionate strokes, what love is, and it does so in terms which are fallible but filled with character.
This very young, gifted director has delivered a poignnt film. It should be required viewing for anyone entering the helping professions, but also the betrothed.
In today's prurient terms, love is not what "they" think, nor it it what most of us think. The director has taken great pains to reveal truths in a manner both restrained and dignified.
AWAY FROM HER may be one the best films of the year. And Gordon Pinsent delivers an incredible performance -- which brought tears to my eyes more than once.
I'd grant five easy stars, even though the DVD release appears to have been redited from the theatrical version. The redited version, while marginally weaker, still comes close to perfection.
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