Away from Her (2006)
This is a story about Alzheimer's Disease (AD), its effect on those who suffer from it, and 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 excellent. From my limited experience with an AD-afflicted mother, numerous visits to nursing homes, and hours roaming the often depressing corridors of the wards observing the behavior of old folks whose minds simply weren't there anymore, I believe the characters in this film were excellent. 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. Was Fiona exacting some kind of revenge on Grant?
The depiction of nursing homes and the commentary about AD is accurate. The only thing missing in the film, is the sometimes careless attention by bored staff you see in real life. Perhaps Canadian senior care is better than what we see here in the states.
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. What an amazing job they did of acting out the tentative and struggling moves of a frail body and the glazed eyes of a lost soul who can no longer comprehend the world. Overall the casting is excellent.
If you have a family member who is going through this, or know someone who is dealing with Alzheimer's...recommend this movie to them. I have a much clearer understanding of what my own mother went through after seeing this film.
No comments:
Post a Comment