a film by Sarah Polley
ONE SENTENCE SYNOPSIS
a family drama that tells the story of an elderly married couple facing the effects of Alzheimer's on their lives and relationship
HER TAKE
Writer-director Sarah Polley presents “Away From Her” unflinching in its honesty but with care and respect. It does not sugar coat the devastating affect Alzheimer’s disease can have on both the person it inhibits as well as those around them. But it does not over dramatize it either. What is left is a stark look at how Grant Anderson (Gordon Pinsent) copes with wife Fiona’s (Julie Christie) decision to admit herself into a facility that will care for her as her mind deteriorates.
Julie Christie and Gordon Pinsent are wonderful both separately and together. Though the film was written with Christie in mind, the focus is really more on Pinsent’s character who must find his way, with the help of care center nurse, Kristy (Kristen Thompson), and Marian (Olympia Dukakis), the wife of a man Fiona becomes attached to in the care center. I’m usually a fan of Dukakis but didn’t think her performance in this was by any means up to par. The real standout supporting performance was by Thompson. She is flawless as the grounding element in the midst of all the confusion and holds her own amongst the likes of Christie and Pinsent. Pinsent does a wonderful job of conveying the brewing storm beneath his outwardly calm and sturdy surface. He rarely shows outward emotion but his anger, sadness and helplessness is clearly present. Christie matches his performance with her own version of the internal battle she is fighting.
The pace was slow and meandering reflecting not only the age of the characters but also the emotional journey they embarked on together (whether you place the beginning of that journey at the onset of the Alzheimer’s or the marriage proposal makes little difference). It is an appropriate pace but with not much dialogue to move it along and so much being left up to the imagination it could have moved a hair faster. It also felt a bit disjointed along its undefined timeline with slightly choppy transitions. This didn’t detract exceedingly from the work as a whole but it also didn’t feel like a smooth united piece either. The average filmgoer will not see this as an intended effect designed to convey Grant’s loss of order to his world. I’m not sure if it was intended, but I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt here.
The mood of the film is somber though there are brief moments where emotion is elevated by happiness or anger. It is reflective, pensive and stark in its presentation of the reality of the situation. There is a recurring sense of restraint throughout the film that turns out to be a double edged sword. This restraint is effective in conveying the struggle and resistance Grant displays as a reaction to the circumstances. But it gets in the way at times of delving into the roots of Fiona and Grant’s relationship causing me to wonder exactly where they stood as husband and wife as she enters the care facility. And perhaps we aren’t supposed to know exactly what transpired between the two in the past but I would have liked to have had a little more understanding in that regard as opposed to allusions to past events.
Despite its minor flaws, I believe older viewers, especially those who have experienced long marriages, will be able to relate to this film more than younger generations. But nevertheless, people of all ages (young adult and up) should be able to appreciate it. It won’t be the first thing I think of to recommend to people but it’s worth a watch if you are interested in the subject matter.
HIS TAKE
Away From Her is the type of widely praised but little seen film that goes largely unnoticed in theaters. The storyline is geared towards adults (specifically of retirement age) and deals with an issue that most key demographics aren’t affected by (Alzheimer’s).
Myself included, I barely registered a blip on the radar as it came and went through the not-so-local cineplexes this past spring. But that it could come and go without so much as a passing thought is not necessarily indicative of its cinematic worth…
Because Away From Her is also the type of film that once the Academy Award season rolls around, a nomination or two will certainly come its way and have everyone scrambling to see it before the Oscar telecast.
And that nomination will be… Best Actress, Julie Christie. I can’t imagine seeing five better performances this year. Christie plays Fiona, a former ‘wild child’ woman who is now relegated to labeling her drawers just to remember where her kitchen utensils go. She’s a prisoner of her own mind. She forgets faces, even of her husband of forty years and misplaces pans in the freezer like it’s the rightful place to put it. Christie is really remarkable in the role, completely selling her decline into dementia. She’s filled with uncertainty and a calming fear that is beautifully painful – and strikes you right in the heart.
But this movie is more about her husband Grant, portrayed well by Gordon Pinsent. His is the opposite struggle of seeing someone he loved lose their memory and their mind without having the power to do anything about it himself. He’s an idle bystander, hopeful, but also fearful that Fiona could wander off by herself without the ability to return home. And how hard must it be to look in the face of the woman you love and not know if she even recognizes you?
The first half of Away From Her is really about how their relationship deteriorates and how Grant is faced with the burden of responsibility. It’s ultimately his decision to make whether he can care for her or whether she needs to be institutionalized.
This truly is some heartbreaking stuff (and fine filmmaking to boot). It’s not just for your family’s AARP members. Because of the depth of Christie’s performance, you can see flashes of memory and moments strike her. You can actually see her entire train of thought play out on her face. It’s excellent stuff, some of my favorite moments of the year thus far.
However, I don’t think the second half of the film quite lives up to the first. Once Grant ultimately decides what to do in the situation, the movie delves into a soap opera-ish love triangle that negates some of the delightfully simple and human elements of its beginning. Plus the backstory that is introduced for Grant is largely unnecessary, supposedly giving him a motive for his actions but really I think it does more to undermine them.
Even still, it’s a lovely little film that is polished and assured of itself courtesy of actor/director Sarah Polley. I’m absolutely intrigued about the possibilities of Polley as a filmmaker one, five and ten years from now. If Away From Her is any indication, she’s definitely one to watch.
So we’re one article into this and already I’ve discovered a film I might have otherwise ignored. Mission accomplished.
HER REACTION
I see we agree on many key points. The only place we truly differ is this talk about a little statue by the name of Oscar. I think Julie Christie's performance was extremely moving and strong and deserves at least a nod but I don't think it'll happen. With so many promising films yet to be released I have a feeling Away From Her will, unfortunately, be all together passed by. But who knows? We'll have to wait and see.
HIS REACTION
Well, no fireworks from our first forray into tandem reviewing. We're on the same page here, I'm just reading a more interesting paragraph. We both singled out the backstory as unnecessary or undeveloped and the acting as some of the stronger reasons for seeing the film.. I just found a little more to like in the leads and a star to champion for an Oscar nod in Christie. Still though, that first hour had me thinking 'Top 10 of 2007' until I saw some cracks.
6 comments:
Even if you haven't seen the film Away From Her, Rebecca and I would appreciate a little feedback just to see if you guys like the format for the new article. So feel free to weigh in.
And in the future we'll try to cover some films that maybe you guys have seen, are considered classics or are recent theater releases. With this one, we just wanted to get a review out there and give it a shot.
I like the reviews. The only reason I haven't commented yet was because I intend to rent it tonight. So hopefully I will have my own take on the film to post tomorrow. Otherwise I think the His/Her column works very well.
Both very well written reviews. Probably won't get around to seeing this for awhile, but I've been hearing good things, particularly about the acting.
Thanks for the feedback! It's really encouraging :)
So a little late getting around to seeing it, but I finally did.
I have to say that this was a wonderful surprise. The story it tells could easily have been melodramatic or overbearing, but Polley directs and writes with such honesty and sympathy for her characters that it had me tearing up in the end. It got a little dusty.
Christie has to get a nomination. I'm completely with you here Mulligan. Hell Helen Mirren wasn't this good in the Queen. Christie plays it with such isolation and loss that I don't know how you can give that performance in front of a crew and camera. She really seemed lost in her own thoughts as she "Fiona" tries to recall even the simplest of words like "wine."
But for all the hubbub Christie should receive, I have to give just as much credit to Pinsent. This is some of the most subtle acting ever. He does little more than utter lines physically, but you sense the hurt and anger he has within when Fiona spirals down getting worse and worse. He gets angry in one scene when he confronts Fiona about wearing a tacky sweater. For such a mundane item, we get a tragic scene that says so much about him and his agony.
Thomson holds her own against the two leads. But she seemed to get too personal when Grant's past is ever so slightly revealed. I mean who is she to get judgmental all of a sudden. The guy has been coming to see his wife, whom doesn't even recall who he is, everyday and she wants to get all high and mighty and feminist on him. Aside fomr that scene though I thought she was great, but not award worthy like the other two.
Dukakis was quite disappointing. I found her awfully bitter and cynical. She didn't show any love for her husband, Aubrey, just as long as she kept the house. "What a jerk." She uttered that when Gratn leaves her home. I thought he should have said it instead.
I understand your problems with eh film: the two big ones being Grants' decision and his past. I took it very personally when he makes his choice on how to move on. I found it almost disrespectful to Fiona, since I truly believed in their love. But it is naive of us to assume that love will resolve their problems. He confronts the issue as anyone would and he happens to find someone who can help him through it. Why her? I couldn't say, but I'm sure it was not something he himself desired, but Fiona had moved on and so should he. Why torture himself with memories. Besides the time is never really given so this could have been slowly brewing for many months if not years. I mean where they are may never warm up enough to melt the snow.
As for Grants' past. It never bothered me. I thought the hints that were given were enough for me to understand why he would think she was punishing him, and it was enough for me to understand it was something he felt he should be punished for. That was all I needed. It made the film feel both more intimate as I was hearing this tidbits of info, as well as more isolated as I felt lost like I should know, but don't recall like I had Alzheimer's myself.
One more thing I want to talk about. The structure itself. I thought it was intentional. I found it very ethereal and very fractured not so much as a representation of Grant, but more of Fiona's. We drift in and out of memories as they are recalled in the present. The story is all a recollection from when Grant goes to Marians for the first time. From then on he had recalled the previous events. It was quite beautiful I thought, and I never found it distracting or confusing.
PS The movie was just gorgeous. From the cinematography to the music to Julie Christie's eyes.
One area where I seem to disagree with both of you is with Olympia Dukakis. I didn't find her a standout by any means in the film, but the resentful bitterness of her character could easily have been Grant in 5 years if Fiona's situation had worsened and he was forced into caring for her just to preserve the home he'd lived in for 20 years. And I understand that "What a jerk" line because I feel like even she knew that she couldn't have meant it. It was more of an exasperated way of not dealing with the situation and what Grant was proposing... which they eventually get around to anyway.
And thanks for the Christie Oscar support Chachi, but I think you're going a little bit overboard throwing Pinsent in as well. I liked him well enough. He was understated and effective in the role, but I felt that when the storyline focus changed from 'them' to 'him' that the movie suffered. He's just not that interesting. The situation he's in is, but he himself isn't. I just can't go that far out on the limb. Good, yes, great? I'm not entirely convinced.
Thanks for catching up with the film though, it really adds to the discussion to hear multiple points of view. Contradictory or not. Next up is one you've probably seen or have intended to...
Black Snake Moan.
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