Away from Her

Away from Her is a beautiful little collage of a film about the end of a marriage but not of a relationship. It is the story of a woman with Alzheimer's and her husband's life as he learns to deal with what this means to his life with a woman he clearly adores.

The scenes are pulled together this way and that until they form a whole and you understand some of what this couple (Gordon Pinsent and Julie Christie) experienced through a nearly 50 year marriage. It can be confusing until you begin to see the tapestry as a portrait of a relationship and of how the mind works. As much as his wife is losing her mind, the husband still has his but its a mixed collection of what is, what must be, and what he is losing.

It is beautifully filmed against a snowy Canadian landscape with the kind of cabin everyone would love to own deep in the woods, warmly furnished depicting both the history of the man (it was his mother's home) but also of who this couple was. To me the landscape where they live is one more piece of the collage.

The three main characters include Olympia Dukakis who is Marion, the wife of a man living in the facility where Fiona goes to live once her condition becomes too advanced to be safe in her own home. Grant, a retired college professor, is the center of the story as it is he who must cope with loss. His love transcends the physical although the story lets us know this had not been a perfect marriage as there was an (maybe more than one) earlier affair which Fiona had forgiven Grant or had she?

Even when Marion and Grant have an affair, based on their partners falling in love with each other and Marion and Grant's mutual need and loss, she sees that he will never love her as he does Fiona. Marion is an ordinary (although very attractive) woman unlike Fiona who is a goddess with almost surreal beauty, vitality, and liveliness; even the lines in her face give her a poetic grace that is every bit as powerful as the beauty she had as a girl.

Watching Julie Christie be her age and so beautiful is a pleasure. She was always a gorgeous woman, but her aging, yet sensual beauty is a pleasure to watch. Too bad more actresses haven't aged naturally as when you see those who are obviously the age they are, you realize the others have lost something worth far more in their hopeless quest for youth.

This might not be a movie to watch if you are feeling down as it tugs at the heart. Save it for a day when you are ready to look at life in its fullness. It's also not a documentary on what Alzheimer's is like because it can be very different for different people. This is however, more than a film about a disease, it's a film about relationships and the fullest meaning of love.

For another review and quite a few scenes from this film, check out Away from Her by Old Old Lady in the Hills. Her reviews of films are always excellent and this one was no exception. It was one of the things that encouraged me to watch it despite knowing it was a sad topic.