Away From Her

Don't Despair

I have a morbid fascination with the Alzheimer's disease, with the Japanese movie Oriume shown during last year's Japanese Film Festival being one of the earliest movies I've seen tackling the subject head on. I've always wondered how life would turn topsy turvy for the caregivers to anyone suffering from the disease, which inflicts the brain and cause total chaos with one's memory, leading to very peculiar mood swings or just complete and genuine loss when presented with a friendly face, and the hurt cuts more deeply when it belongs to a loved one.

44 years is a long time to stay married, and seriously, any couple who stays married that long deserves a pat on the back, and from whom we all can learn a thing or two from. However, what we thought to be a perfect marriage between the Andersons Grant (Gordon Pinsent) and Fiona (Julie Christie) begin to slowly fragment, as little clues were dropped every now and then, questioning a nagging thought, never confirmed, about regretting not being the person you could have been, but again serving as a reminder that it's never too late to strive and be a better person, what more when it's crunch time?

Julie Christie deserves her Oscar nomination and is a front runner for the award come Oscar night. It's not hard to see why, as she plays Fiona with a combination of strength in facing the inevitable that's coming, heartbreaking knowing it is, and a sense of vulnerability when she finally succumbs to the nuances of the disease, with excellent portrayal with that sense of loss coming through just with her eyes alone. It's always difficult to discover slowly that you're losing a battle day by day, and she managed to bring out the courage that her character provides, not only to herself, but to her husband.

And I thought that Gordon Pinsent should have deserved some form of recognition too, given that the story was told more from his perspective through his strong baritone voice, his relentless nature to make amends, and to provide the best possible care to his ill wife. His Grant tries hard to cope with the situation, even undergoing through denial (which is probably the easy way out), before accepting fate and checking Fiona into an institution, where probably his worse nightmare comes true, sudden and obviously without warning. His doggedness and perseverance continue to see him visiting day by day, just for that hint of acknowledgement, and watching him being put through this trial, just breaks your heart too. I thought nothing is more painful than the fact that your loved one doesn't recognize you any more, and so there goes all the memories that one cling on so tightly to.

Running close to two hours, the movie gets you engaged from the get go, although its non-linear fragmented structure in the beginning probably resembles that of memories being slightly forgotten, and trying very hard to fit them all together. You'll soon realize and feel the love Grant has for his wife, and the sacrifices that he goes through to provide care, nevermind the suggestions of impropriety flitting in from time to time. The lovely piano pieces too does wonders to accentuate those emotions, and I thought the score throughout was pitch perfect.

Written for the screen and directed by Sarah Polley, based upon the short story "The Bear Came Over the Mountain" by Alice Munro, you cannot be more amazed that the director being so young, is able to direct a movie with such matureness in a common theme of Love, and what more one that is primarily centered on the elderly. It goes to show that love indeed does transcend and cuts through age barriers, and it doesn't take one to be of a certain age, to direct equally powerful emotions.

Although there's a sense of sadness permeating through the whole movie, with hearty doses of helplessness, especially so when KD Lang's Helpless comes on during the end credits, it does somehow achieve some closure the characters are seeking in new chapters in life, and come this Valentine season, should you prefer a more touching story of what love truly is, then look no further from Away From Her. Profess to your loved one instead, that you'll be the silent guardian angel always nearby and offering protection and comfort, especially when one is incapable of fending for oneself, that you'll never be found bolting through the front door the minute you can.

Highly recommended, and contender for my year end movie of the year list!



Helpless - K.D. Lang

There is a town in north Ontario
With dream comfort memory to spare
And in my mind
I still need a place to go
All my changes were there

Blue, blue windows behind the stars
Yellow moon on the rise
Big birds flying across the sky
Throwing shadows on our eyes
Leave us

Helpless, helpless, helpless
Baby can you hear me now?
The chains are locked
And tied across the door
Baby, sing with me somehow

Blue, blue windows behind the stars
Yellow moon on the rise
Big birds flying across the sky
Throwing shadows on our eyes
Leave us

Helpless, helpless, helpless