Away from Her (2006)

A man coping with the institutionalization of his wife because of Alzheimer's disease faces an epiphany when she transfers her affections to another man, Aubrey, a wheelchair-bound mute who also is a patient at the nursing home.

Director:

Sarah Polley

Writers:

Sarah Polley, Alice Munro (short story "The Bear Came Over the Mountain")

Stars:

Gordon Pinsent, Stacey LaBerge, Julie Christie

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 42 wins & 18 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gordon Pinsent	...	Grant Anderson
Stacey LaBerge	...	Young Fiona
Julie Christie	...	Fiona Anderson
Olympia Dukakis	...	Marian
Deanna Dezmari	...	Veronica
Clare Coulter	...	Phoebe Hart
Thomas Hauff	...	William Hart
Alberta Watson	...	Dr. Fischer
Grace Lynn Kung	...	Nurse Betty
Lili Francks	...	Theresa
Andrew Moodie	...	Liam
Wendy Crewson	...	Madeleine Montpellier
Judy Sinclair	...	Mrs. Albright
Tom Harvey	...	Michael
Carolyn Hetherington	...	Eliza

Storyline

Grant and Fiona Anderson have been married for forty-four years. Their marriage has been a generally happy and loving one although not perfect due to some indiscretions when Grant was working as a college professor. Fiona has just been admitted to Meadowlake, a long term care facility near their country home in southwestern Ontario, because her recent lapses of memory have been diagnosed as a probable case of Alzheimer's disease. She and Grant made this decision together, although a still lucid Fiona seems to have made peace with the decision and her diagnosis more so than Grant. With respect to the facility, what Grant has the most difficulty with are what he sees as the sadness associated with the facility's second floor - where the more advanced cases are housed - but most specifically the facility's policy of no visitors within the first thirty days of admission to allow the patient to adjust more easily to their new life there. Based on what he sees when he is finally able to ...

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Plot Keywords:

nursing home | alzheimer's disease | time | marriage | memory | 

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Taglines:

The ultimate love story

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Official Sites:

La Fabrique de Films [France] Lionsgate [United States]

Country:

Canada UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 April 2007 (UK)

Also Known As:

Lejos de ella

Filming Locations:

Freeport Health Centre, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

CAD 4,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$53,267 (USA) (4 May 2007)

Gross:

$15,830,046 (USA) (13 July 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Film Farm, The, Foundry Films, Capri Releasing

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie somewhat mirrored actor Gordon Pinsent's real life, when his wife, actress Charmion King, died of emphysema in January 2007, four months after "Away from Her" premiered.

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Quotes

Fiona: I'd like to make love, and then I'd like you to go. Because I need to stay here and if you make it hard for me, I may cry so hard I'll never stop.

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Connections

Referenced in IMDb's 20th Anniversary Star of the Day: Debra Messing (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Prelude from 'Prelude, Fugue and Allegro for Lute', (BWV 998)"
Written by Johann Sebastian Bach (as J.S. Bach)
Performed by Jonathan Goldsmith (electric guitar, piano, ambiences) and Hugh Marsh (electric violin)

User Reviews

Promising directorial debut for Sarah Polley

This is a story about Alzheimer's Disease (AD), its effect on those who suffer from it, and, principally, the difficulties that it poses for relatives who see their loved one decay mentally before death. Julie Christie plays Fiona, a woman whose dementia progresses rather rapidly. Her husband, Grant, is dejected with their predicament as Fiona is moved to a specialized facility and within it between wards dealing with patients with differing levels of impairment.

The depiction of dementia through the character of Fiona and other patients around her is good but not excellent. From my, avowedly limited and not professional, experience with AD-afflicted close and distant relatives, numerous visits to a number of nursing homes -- from the fancy to the abject -- and long hours roaming the often depressing corridors of the wards observing the behavior of old folks whose minds had gone potty, I believe I picked inaccuracies in the behavior of Fiona and her fellow seniors that threw me off. It is not uncommon at the early stages of AD to think that the person may be pretending. Grant thinks that way too at first. I had to agree with him. I had trouble accepting an AD sufferer at the advanced stage of not recognizing a loved one of more than forty years still displaying a keen short-term memory capacity. Could it be that Fiona what exacting some kind of revenge on Grant past dalliances?

The depiction of nursing homes and the commentary about AD is accurate. Sarah Polley has clearly spent time visiting such places. From what I understand, she had to deal with her own mother's dementia for about five years. She has first hand experience. The only thing missing in the film, is the sometimes lackadaisical attention by bored staff you see in real life. But, who knows, Canadian senior care may be a lot better.

The story has an important additional element in the form of Marian, played superbly by Olivia Dukakis, whose husband has advanced AD. She illustrates the wrenching decisions that families face. Send the demented relative to an expensive nursing home and go broke doing so or keep the patient at home and live progressively more hellish days. That aspect of the disease jives perfectly with the shared experience of Grant and Marian as they deal with spouses that become unable to reciprocate the love they are given.

The patients at the nursing home are actors. Despite their best efforts, I found the depictions short of perfect. It is really difficult to ape exactly the tentative and struggling moves of a frail body or the glazed eyes of a lost soul who no longer can comprehend the world.

The aforementioned criticisms should be considered minor. Sarah Polley's first venture as a director shows she has what it takes. That is helped by a very good adaptation to the screen of Alice Munro's short story. Overall the casting is excellent.

Funded by the Ontario province at a cost short of C$5M and shot in that province. Don't miss it.