An exceptionally thoughtful movie with a truly original idea, “Away from Her” deserves a look. It’s not a sexy subject, but a worthy one.
At a lake house in Ottawa, two people married for 50 years realize their life is about to change. Fiona (Julie Christie) is beginning to lose her memory – first about little things, then temporarily forgetting where she is and what certain words mean.
Her husband Grant (Gordon Pinsent) reluctantly concedes that Fiona is at some danger alone. They mutually agree that she can enter a facility that handles Alzheimer’s patients.
These opening sequences are hard enough, but things change again after Fiona has spent some weeks at the home. She’s grown attached to another patient, a somewhat helpless man (Michael Murphy). Her emotional life gravitates to him, and she can’t keep her own husband fixed in her memory.
The film thus sets up an intriguing twist: Fiona seems to be handling her transition into a different way of being, but Grant – who has his faculties – is left bewildered and frustrated. The wife (Olympia Dukakis) of Fiona’s new beau is also confused.
“Away from Her” is based on a short story by Alice Munro, and adapted and directed by Canadian actress Sarah Polley, the still-young star of “The Sweet Hereafter” and “Go.” Polley guides the story with great delicacy and a sense of quiet that is reflected in her performances (she doesn’t appear onscreen here).
At times the script says too much, and there are some scenes between Grant and a young nurse that are entirely conventional in telling us how we’re supposed to feel about things. One sequence that links the idea of memory and forgetting with global events is particularly ill-advised.
The two main performances are compelling. Julie Christie brings perhaps too much innate glamour to her role, but her performance is impeccable. She never goes for sympathy, which could have been a huge temptation.
Gordon Pinsent is something like the Gene Hackman of Canada, a guy you will have seen in many Canadian movies and TV shows if you’ve ever spent time watching Canadian television stations. He brings both dignity and a pleasing sense of rough edges to his part.
“Away from Her” doesn’t quite work at every level, but it creates a mood. And its central question – how to react when a loved one begins to change – is haunting.
Julie Christie and Gordon Pinsent stars in “Away from Her.”
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