Away From Her: Movie Review, DVD Review (2008)

1/31/2008 Posted by Admin

A stranger among us

Written and directed by Sarah Polley, 110 minutes, rated PG-13

Sarah Polley’s beautifully realized drama, "Away From Her," stars Julie Christie in an Academy Award-nominated performance for Best Actress.

"Away From Her" opened last May, just as blockbuster season was upon us, thus quashing any hopes for smaller films such as this to enjoy the attention they deserve. It is, in fact, a testament to the strength of this movie that it’s now garnering any notice at all — most films put up for awards consideration open at year’s end, when the Hollywood hype machine can fully back them given their freshness on the scene.

"Away From Her" defies those odds for good reason. The film, which writer-director Sarah Polley based on Alice Munro’s short story "The Bear Came Over the Mountain," tackles with grace and insight the complicated issues surrounding Alzheimer’s disease.

It’s a powerfully understated movie that considers how the afflicted must knowingly let themselves go, piece by piece, into the gray edges of their own minds, and also how those close to them must deal with the ebbing away of a loved one they aren’t prepared to let go.

If that makes it sound as if the movie is a vehicle for sentiment, it isn’t. In spite of her age — Polley, best known as an actress in such films as "The Sweet Hereafter" and the 2004 remake of "Dawn of the Dead," is still in her 20s — the young director approaches this movie with deep reservoirs of respect and no time for easy tears.

Christie is Fiona, an attractive, sophisticated woman in her 60s who, as the movie begins, is starting to show signs of the disease, which she handles with a mix of humor and contained horror. She and her husband of 44 years, Grant (the superb Gordon Pinsent), live in a lake house in Ontario. There, all appearances suggest that they have a good, loving relationship, with their retirement spent cross-country skiing during the day, and enjoying each other’s company at night.

But as time passes and Fiona starts to put frying pans in the freezer and to get lost when venturing away from home, she decides to make a difficult decision about her future while she still has the capacity to do so. She will leave her home and her husband, and move into Meadowlake, an assisted-care facility that will tend to her needs until, as she puts it, she "disappears."

Reluctantly, Grant acquiesces, but what he finds upon returning to Fiona after their required 30 days apart, is another woman. Fiona recognizes him, yes, but only just — she now sees him as something of a suitor. "My, but you’re persistent," she says, to which his lips part in disbelief. What else is he supposed to be?

Worse for Grant is that she has attached herself to Aubrey (Michael Murphy), a mute in a wheelchair also suffering from the disease who comes to rely on Fiona’s affection just as Grant once did.

Now, from the sidelines, Grant must watch his wife dote on another man while hope rises and falls within him that she might somehow return to herself and, by extension, to him. A twist involving Grant’s own questionable past deepens the proceedings considerably — some memories don’t go as quietly or as conveniently as some might hope — as does his budding relationship with Aubrey’s stoic wife, Marian (Olympia Dukakis, terrific), who sees Grant for the flawed individual he is, but who nevertheless has needs of her own that he can fulfill.

In the end, "Away From Her" lifts its head up and moves through its unwanted undercurrents, knowing it must give in to them, and understanding the frustration, rage, bravery and heartache on each side of a losing battle. It is so steadfast in seeing this situation for what it is, it never loses sight of the truth. The fact that nothing is sugarcoated here is among the movie’s greatest virtues.

Christie, who has the ability to appear frail and luminous at once, is the other. The actress, who captivated so many in "Darling," "Dr. Zhivago," "Shampoo" and "Afterglow," proves again that she’s one of the screen’s greatest, most elusive mysteries. Her chief competition for the Academy Award is Marion Cotillard for her portrayal of Edith Piaf in "La Vie En Rose." But as great as Cotillard was in that role, and as deserving as she is of the attention, more and more there’s an energy surrounding Christie that suggests she might just win.

Grade: A