When it comes to Alzheimer's I don't really have any basis for comparison, that is, I haven't really had to deal with it in my own life, so I don't know just how terrible of a thing it can be. Although, I'm also not heartless, so I can imagine that a loved one not being able to remember you could be absolutely heart wrenching. I mean, isn't that what life is all about... acquiring memories? Which, leads me to, Away from Her. A film by actor turned filmmaker, Sarah Polley, adapted from the short story, The Bear Came Over the Mountain, by Alice Munro. Away from Her tells the story of Fiona and Grant Anderson (Julie Christie and Gordon Pinsent), a couple who have been happily married for over forty years (or so we think). Fiona starts to slowly forget things, such as, where the frying pan goes after she washes it (she puts it in the freezer). Grant and Fiona start to struggle with the loss of memory in different ways. Grant, tells himself she's too young to start showing signs of Alzheimer's, and even if she was, he wants her around, as he's never been AWAY FROM HER. Fiona, on the other hand, starts to realize that it may be better if she checks into a small nursing home that deals with such cases. Grant tries to convince her to stay, but eventually relents to her request and they check her into to said nursing home. Over the course of her time there Fiona's memory fades more and more and Grant finds himself trying desperately to cope with the fact that the love of his life doesn't remember him. Not too mention, while in the home Fiona finds solace and comfort in another man, Aubry. A friendship that Fiona explains to Grant, "doesn't confuse her." Grant visits the home everyday, I suppose all the while having the hope that eventually she will come around and start remembering certain things (himself being the main one). Grant feeling lonely strikes up an odd friendship with Aubry's wife, Marian (Olympia Dukakis)... they sleep together, seemingly not feeling very guilty about the whole thing (considering the fact that they are both still married). As Grant and Marian's friendship grows, Fiona's condition worsens, which leads the home to transfer her to the second floor (the floor for individuals progressing quickly). Okay, I have to get this off my chest... I have a real problem with this film. I'm not saying Sarah Polly's foray into the directing world is a bad one. I just felt, almost, cheated in a way. Julie Christie and Gordon Pinsent's performances are spot on, but we know nothing about their characters... at all. Seriously, there is not one bit of exposition in this film. Over the course of the opening credits we see them at their cottage in the middle of nowhere cross country skiing, having dinner, and then washing dishes... to which Fiona places the freshly washed frying pan in the freezer. That is it! That's how we are introduced to these characters and her slipping into memory loss. By the time she checks herself into the home the only thing we really know is that they've been married for over forty years, the haven't spent a month away from each other in that period of time, and Grant was a professor and that he had (apparently) cheated on Fiona once with a student. Basically, the back story is told (out of continuity) by Grant when he goes to meet Marian. And for the most part, the rest of the film is Grant sitting on a couch watching Fiona. Okay, he reads to her a couple of times. And you wonder why I wasn't emotionally attached to these characters. Again, Julie Christie and Gordon Pinsent deserve all the praises, but this being a film where you are supposed to feel something for the the characters, I didn't really care. And that sucks! Fiona is afflicted by a terrible disease. Grant has to watch the love of his life slip away from him, literally. And I could not have cared less. Even when Grant and Marian strike up their friendship and eventually sleep together I wanted to feel something. Either anger or sympathy... something. But again, I wasn't angry at Grant for cheating on his wife and I didn't have sympathy for him considering that he was just lonely and, as all humans, was trying to seek affection. I simply didn't care. And the the clincher... Fiona remembering Grant at the end and the fact that he didn't leave her. Again, nothing. This film felt like Sarah Polley wasn't quite sure what she wanted to do with the source material. It was a feature that felt like a short. It needed to be more. I needed to know these characters more. I very much wanted to know these characters more!
Swanny out.
