Sarah Polley was an established, well-known actress around her mid 20s when she decided to move into directing. So what does Polley do for her first film? A story about aging and Alzheimer's disease.
Away From Her has elements of aging and Alzheimer's disease in the film but is about relationships and cheating.
Fiona (Julie Christie) and Grant (Gordon Pinsent) are a long-time married couple. Fiona is clearly showing some memory issues and she goes into a care facility. On the drive there, Fiona becomes surprisingly lucid, recalling that her husband cheated on her and said she was thankful that he didn't leave her.
Once in the facility, Fiona strikes up a close relationship with Aubrey (Michael Murphy). Grant becomes friends with Marian (Olympia Dukakis), Aubrey's wife.
Grant thinks Fiona struck up the relationship to get back at him for cheating on Fiona many years ago.
Polley adapted the screenplay based from the Alice Munro short story The Bear Came Over the Mountain from the 2001 collection Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage.
Polley likely thought of Christie for the role based on being together in No Such Thing (2001). That film takes place in Iceland and the country comes up with Fiona's background and Grant's teachings.
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A few crossover Canadian films cast well-known non-Canadians. Pinsent is a Canadian legend with Christie, Dukakis, and Murphy in the mix. Kristen Thomson is rather excellent as Kristy, the primary nurse. Other great Canadians in the cast include Alberta Watson, Grace Lynn Kung, and Wendy Crewson. There are plenty of Canadian elements sprinkled into the script, including a fellow patient who used to call the Winnipeg Jets games. The film takes place in Brant County, Ontario.
There isn't much music in the film but the use of Harvest Moon from fellow Canadian Neil Young and K.D. Lang's cover of the Neil Young song Helpless are nice touches.
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Polley has Fiona drift between lucidity and forgetfulness. Atom Egoyan, who cast Polley in The Sweet Hereafter, and was an executive producer on Away From Her, has a similar awakening with Christopher Plummer's character in Remember (2015).
Directorial debuts almost always have flaws but you would strain to find one in Away From Her. The storytelling is a lush tapestry; you feel anger, confusion, love, forlorn, and forgiveness. Polley made a film that feels Canadian but the average film viewer would see this as an above-average independent film. The fact that she acted in Canadian films and non-Canadian films may account for what we see in Away From Her.
Polley was 28 when the film was released but has the empathy and sensitivity to put herself in a place with much older people. A gem of a film and a chance to see the direction and writing that Polley brings to the screen.
The 2006 film was a rare Canadian film to receive a pair of Academy Awards nominations: Best Actress (Christie) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Polley).
Away From Her won 6 Genie Awards including Best Motion Picture, Polley's 2 awards for director and best adapted screenplay, and acting awards for Christie, Pinsent, and Thomson.
photo credit: Away From Her film
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