Away From Her
Away from Her is a sweet and delicate drama about a man (Gordon Pinsent) whose wife (Julie Christie) is slowly succumbing to Alzheimer’s. Based on Alice Munro’s story The Bear Came Over The Mountain, the screenplay was written by freshman director Sarah Polley. Polley has lived most of her young professional life in theatre and independent films, and the film reflects those sensibilities. It is a broad leap for a woman so young to tackle the topic of a long marriage and crumbling memories, but for the most part she pulls it off with aplomb.
In the beginning, the language is a little too florid, too poetic (with shots to match), but soon settles into a more confident and naturalistic groove. Pinsent is an understated actor; his character is so focused on Christie’s that he fades in the background, much as he is for her. As an actor, he also is stepping back to make each scene focus on her, even though the story is really addressing his experience. It’s an interesting angle to take, one that lends itself to a lot of expressive eyes and long, wordless moments, a brave place to go for a new director. Polley is clearly an actor’s director, giving her leads time to register all their conflicting emotions on their faces.
At only 63, Christie must be admitted to a care center for treatment of this insidious, elusive illness. Pinsent watches her change, watches her become another person, one he’s never known in their 45 years together. In a way, he is becoming another person as well. Their memories together are long and textures, and watching/feeling them unravel is bittersweet and painful.
The movie isn’t a “bummer” or “a drag,” though it’s definitely a different ride than a typical summer movie, but I would go so far as to describe it as a tragedy. The tagline for the film reads, “Sometimes you have to let go of what you can’t live without.” Letting go of a spouse, or one’s own sense of memory and self, on many different levels, is touched here. It seems difficult in Hollywood to convey the fearful embarrassment and disorientation of Alzheimer’s without resorting to histrionics or somehow mentally handicapping the victim, but Christie maps out the islands of her character’s awareness with dignity and beauty.
Secondary characters orbit the pair but only lightly touch them – Wendy Crewson and Kristen Thomson at the hospital, Olympia Dukakis and Michael Murphy more personally. Murphy plays a key role but barely speaks a word, and his quiet performance is a great bedrock for Christie’s disintegration and charm.
Perrhaps, as the film suggests, people are too demanding in their lives. What more can you need but this heartrending glimpse into just one part of the hardest part of a man’s life? Can we, or anyone, ever really settle into anything?
MPAA Rating PG-13
Release date 5/11/07
Time in minutes 110
Director Sarah Polley
Studio Lionsgate
