Away From Her

Julie Christie makes a stunning comeback to the movies in the recent Canadian film, Away From Her. In the mellow beauty of her 67 years she plays a woman beset by Alzheimer's. Gordon Pinsett, one of Canada's most revered actors, plays the husband who must face up to the gradual loss of his wife. A plot such as this would seem unlikely to tempt customers to plunk down six dollars for a matinee ticket. Why choose to sink into the misery of others? But this is not the case. Wit and irony help keep our heads above water, together with the sympathetic treatment the story receives from the writer, director, and the actors,

I think Alice Munro would like this adaptation of her short story, "The Bear Came Over the Mountain." At least, I hope so. The film makers changed the title to "Away From Her," and for the sake of plot development added a few extra elements. But in all the important ways the film remains faithful to Alice Munro. In fact, Christie who plays Fiona, a woman married to the same man for over forty years at the beginning of the story even looks a little like Alice, a beautiful woman in her own right.

The story, so relevant for our time, follows the disintegration of a marriage--not because of infidelity or boredom but because of a slow but relentless disease.

Julie Christie is a revelation in this movie. My only memory of her before was her role as Lara in Dr. Zhivago where she seemed as inexpressive as a statue--a beautiful one, but unmoving nevertheless. But this picture demands an actor who can act, and and she gives a riveting performance. Nowadays, with lines etched upon her face, she is more beautiful than ever. Her Fiona is a woman in whom humor and pathos are blended with a brave desire to save herself and her marriage. Fiona answers her doctors questions (designed to diagnose her disease) with wit and dignity, but also on a solo ski jaunt across familiar territory loses her way and ends up lost and confused on a highway near her home.

We learn that the marriage has not been completely ideal. Grant has indulged himself in a few dalliances over the years and while Fiona knew this, she has kept it to herself. The role of the husband has been enlarged somewhat, and in Pinsett's fine performance we see a man in whom remorse and sorrow live together on a day to day basis. Soon after Fiona is placed in the Meadowlake Nursing Home she devotes all her time to a fellow resident and no longer remembers her husband or who he is. One can't help wondering whether Fiona, at some level, is paying Grant back for his former infidelities. In a typical Alice Munro twist, Grant gradually forms a relationship with Marian (expertly played by Olympia Dukakis) , the wife of the man Fiona is now devoted to. Dramatically unlike Fiona-- some would describe Marian as "common"-- but the sorrow she and Grant share helps them both move on.

The film is enjoyable on many levels, including the photography, background music, and the beautiful landscape of western Ontario. The camera lingers over the wide fields of grain framed by dense woods in summer, and the ice and snow of a lake in winter near Fiona's home. Knitting is featured too in the hand-made scarves worn by the characters and the afghans and shawls swathing the furniture in Fiona's living room. The views of life in a nursing home are particularly instructive. Meadowlake is obviously upscale and staffed by caring professionals. But the institutional life is clearly evident--one that's run on business lines and often petty rules.

I was particularly tuned into the sound of the film because Sonia's friend's daughter was responsible for it. Jane Tattersall of Tattersall Sound of Toronto did the sound work that added a sharp reality to a work of fiction. In fact the crew of Away From Her is dominated by women, including the director, producers, and others. Sarah Polley who directed it acted in the notable film, "My Sweet Hereafter."

The film won't stay long at the Montrose Cinema, but thanks to them we do see out-of-the-mainstream movies once in a while. I was amazed to see they are now running a French film!! Mon Dieu! The Valet. Look it up. It sounds promising.