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Harvey Karten's Reviews

Review: Away From Her

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#1 of 1 Posted 4/17/07 10:59 PM

From Harveycritic Posts 1632 Last Nov-2
To All [Msg # 22349.1 ]

    AWAY FROM HER

Reviewed by Harvey S. Karten
Lionsgate
Grade: A-
Directed by:    Sarah Polley
Written By: Sarah Polley, from story "The Bear Who Came Over the Mountain” by Alice Munro
Cast:   Julie Christie, Gordon Pinsent, Olympia Dukakis, Michael Murphy, Kristen Thomson, Wendy
Crewson
Screened at: Review 1, NYC, 4/17/07
Opens: May 4, 2007

With considerably more than half a year to go, one can scarcely imagine a more Oscar-worthy set of twin performances than those of Gordon Pinsent as Grant and Julie Christie as Fiona, his wife of fifty years. In the leisurely-paced film debut-directed by Sarah Polley, adapted by the director from Ontario-born Alice Munro’s short story “The Bear Who Came Over the Mountain,” Polley exquisitely captures Munro’s focus on the travails of the elderly in rural areas. This is not exactly a subject that touches the hearts and lightens the wallets of mainstream North American movie audiences, but those who have been tinged with life’s experiences (read: over the age of forty-five) and perhaps even some who are still in the throes of youth but have sensitive souls will be rewarded, charmed, and struck by the minutes spent with a couple undergoing a critical time. They have been married since barely out of their teens until the present period in their late sixties.

Though living an idyllic life in a snowbound Ontario cottage where their cross-country skiing keeps their complexions ruddy, Fiona’s early decline from Alzheimer’s is shown by her placing a newly-washed frying pan into the freezer. Her desire to move into an assisted living facility early on is opposed by Grant, who believes this will hasten her decline, but he accedes, though depressed by the robotic efficiency of the manager, Madeleine (Wendy Crewson) who points out the abundance of “natural light,” and even more by the morose conditions on the second floor, which houses patients whose disease has “progressed.”   Far more depressing to Grant, however, is that having waited a compulsory thirty days to allow Fiona to “settle in,” he discovers upon visiting that she has formed a close attachment with a mute patient, Aubrey (Michael Murphy), seems no longer to recognize him, and that according to a member of the staff, Kristy (Kristen Thomson), may be punishing him for something (sexual?) that he was guilty of long ago.

(If Sarah Polley has been true to Alice Munro’s story, we know that the author’s dialogue is spare; that every word counts. Among the points made in the film is that Alzheimer’s patients often retain their long-term memories while their short-term storage goes kaput. We need not wonder, then, what went on during Grant’s days as a young, married professor.) Disturbed and envious, Grant pays a visit to Aubrey’s wife, Marian (Olympia Dukakis), an independent-minded, chain-smoking woman, explaining the dilemma, hoping together to find a solution that would be satisfying to both Grant and Marian. What follows between the two provides a note of optimism.

Polley dispenses a few grainy flashbacks, just enough to show the happy lives that were Grant’s and Fiona’s, felicity retained apparently throughout their long years together, challenged only during the progress of Fiona’s dread disease. “Away from Her” is anything but a sappy, sloppy, disease-of-the-week film. Under Polley’s modest direction, exquisite performances are evoked from the ensemble, but the picture belongs to Gordon Pinsent, who is relatively unknown stateside–though he has been in over a hundred films and TV episodes mostly in his native Canada. Luc Montpellier filmed “Away from Her” in rural Ontario, principally in Lake of Bays, Bracebridge, not recommended for snorkeling but terrific for cross-country skiing.

Not Rated.    109 minutes   © 2007 by Harvey Karten Member: NY Film Critics Online

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Harvey Karten's Reviews

Review: Away From Her

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