After the well-documented Spiderman 3 fiasco, I was a little reluctant to go to the movies the other night. But I sucked it up and went. And as much as I hated Spiderman 3, I loved Sarah Polley's amazing Away from Her. Based on Alice Munro's short story, "The Bear Came Over the Mountain," Away From Her deals with effects of Alzheimer's on a couple. Having dealt with a grandmother who we had to put in a nursing home and gradually lost most of her short term memories, I was particularly struck by the almost throw away scene of an unnamed older lady coming up to a sea of walkers with a confused look. She can't figure which one is hers; she knows she has a walker, needs a walker, but can't remember what hers looks like. It so perfectly captures the helplessness and fragility of mental illness.
Gordon Pinsent and (the still ravishing) Julia Christie are remarkable as the couple. Also, Kristen Thomson as the nurse, is brilliant. I haven't seen her in anything else, but her character is so interesting. The script, adapted by Polley who's only in her late 20s, is mature, senstive and thoughtful, never going sappy or 'movie of the week."
4 comments:
Glad you braved the cinema again. I've been wanting to see Away From Her for a while and it's good to know that it doesn't disappoint.
By the way... shouldn't someone who has IMDB as a link on his blog know that Julia Christie is actually Julie Christie?
I did know that... Never type tired.
Definately worth the watch. I can only hope (in vain) to be that agile when I'm 66. Hopefully without alzheimers though.
Sarah Polley rocks. She was in Road to Avonlea, you know. Which also happened to rock.
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