Winged Cognition

AWAY FROM HER (2005)

WINGED COGNITION

27 year old Sarah Polley made her directorial debut for a feature film with this movie. She had previously directed four short films, and a TV episode. Most of her past notoriety was for being a fine actress, having already appeared in more than 50 films since 1985. She was 9 years old when she did Terry Gilliam’s ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN (1988). She spent several years as a child star on the television series ROAD TO AVONLEA. She appeared in THE SWEET HEREAFTER, GUINEVERE, and in THE CLAIM (2000). Recently I enjoyed her work with Sam Shepard in Wim Wender’s DON’T COME KNOCKING (2005).

Polley’s mother died when she was 11 years old. She considers actress Julie Christie to be her “surrogate mother”. She worked with her twice before in NO SUCH THING (2000), and LIFE OF WORDS (2005). Originally Polley wanted to do a feature film about a 12 year old girl who finds herself being the star of a TV series, something she knows a little about –but there was no financial interest. Then she went with adapting a short story she liked by Alice Munro, THE BEAR CAME OVER THE MOUNTAIN. She wrote the screenplay with Julie Christie specifically in mind to play Fiona.

The film’s plot revolves around a retired 60ish professor who lives a comfortable lifestyle with his gorgeous wife in a cabin his mother used to own. They are forced to face the harsh reality of the wife’s impending cognitive decline secondary to Alzheimer’s disease. While still coherent, Fiona (Julie Christie) convinces her husband, Grant (Gordon Pinsent) that it would be prudent to allow her to check herself into a special retirement home that specializes in Alzheimer’s patients. Reluctantly, the husband agreed. The institution had a 30-day waiting period before the first family visit to allow new residents to “settle in”. When Grant came for his first visit he found himself greeted with a blank stare. Fiona no longer seemed to recognize him. Worse still, she had become emotionally attached to another patient –Aubrey, a mute in a wheelchair.

How far can love be stretched before it lapses into heartache? Yet the textures of this plot are turgid, and darker forces yet are at work. As a popular professor, Grant had had several affairs in the past with nubile female student admirers. It appeared that Fiona forgave him and stayed with him into their retirement –but had she? I am told, and have read that realistically Alzheimer’s does not progress so aggressively in just 30 days. So was Fiona punishing Grant? Was she still capable of such a callous and shrewd machination? Perhaps.

The dialogue crackles with Stoppard-like language –most of which it seems came directly out of the Munro manuscript. But young Sarah Polley did shed some important light on several salient issues, with the real tragedy of Alzheimer’s being only the tip of the iceberg; things like the reality of physical love and sex amongst seniors, forgiveness –or lack of it after decades of matrimony, and the tedious toll of unresolved regrets. Julie Christie is still radiant, sexy, and beautiful in her 60’s. She makes a lot out of Fiona –savoring a plum role. Gordon Pinsent, a Canadian veteran of more than 100 films, is wonderful as Grant, showering us with his compassion, his nobility, and the unsavory aspects of his complex personality. Olympia Dukakis was perky, pessimistic, and a chain smoker as Aubrey’s wife Marion –becoming Grant’s new “girlfriend” in an odd plot twist. Michael Murphy did a lot through his eyes at the mute Aubrey. Kristin Thomson stole every scene she appeared in as Nurse Kristy.

This thoughtful little film challenges our preconceived notions about older adults. Although it does not pack the dramatic punch of a film like IRIS (2000) with Judi Dench, it sweeps us onto fresh plateaus of consideration, and it creates a lot for us to ponder.

Glenn Buttkus 2007