Ein Mann, der damit zurechtkommen muss, dass seine Frau aufgrund von Alzheimer in einer Pflegeeinrichtung lebt, hat eine Offenbarung, als sie ihre Zuneigung auf einen anderen Mann überträgt.... Alles lesenEin Mann, der damit zurechtkommen muss, dass seine Frau aufgrund von Alzheimer in einer Pflegeeinrichtung lebt, hat eine Offenbarung, als sie ihre Zuneigung auf einen anderen Mann überträgt. Dieser Mann ist Aubrey, ein an den Rollstuhl gebundener Stummer, der ebenfalls Patient im... Alles lesenEin Mann, der damit zurechtkommen muss, dass seine Frau aufgrund von Alzheimer in einer Pflegeeinrichtung lebt, hat eine Offenbarung, als sie ihre Zuneigung auf einen anderen Mann überträgt. Dieser Mann ist Aubrey, ein an den Rollstuhl gebundener Stummer, der ebenfalls Patient im Pflegeheim ist.
- Regie
- Drehbuch
- Hauptbesetzung
- Für 2 Oscars nominiert
- 62 Gewinne & 43 Nominierungen insgesamt
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Less than a decade later, Christie comes up with an even better performance of a woman coping with Alzheimer's disease in a debut directorial effort "Away from Her" of Canadian actress Sarah Polley. I saw the film today at the ongoing International Film Festival of Kerala, India, where Ms Christie, serving on the jury for the competition section, introduced her film thus: "It is immaterial whether you are rich or poor--we cannot predict what can happen to us. Enjoy the film with this thought." Ms Christie probably put in her best effort because the young director considers Ms Christie to be her "adoptive" mother, having worked together on three significant movie projects in five years. The film's subject brings memories of two similar films: Pierre Granier-Deferre' film "Le Chat" that won a Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival for both Jean Gabin and Simone Signoret in 1971 and Paul Mazursky's "Harry and Tonto" which won an Oscar for the lead actor Art Carney in 1974. This performance of Julie Christie ranks alongside those winners.
Today geriatric care is a growing problem. This film is a sensitive look at parting of married couples when one of them needs institutional care. Ms Polley's choice of the actor Gordon Pinsent is an intelligent one as the film relies on his narration and Mr Pinsent's deep voice provides the right measure of gravitas. Olympia Dukakis is another fine actor playing a lady who has "quit quitting". So is Michael Murphy doing a lengthy role without saying a word.
The strengths of the film are the subject, the direction, the performances and the seamless editing by the director's spouse. It is not a film that will attract young audiences who are insensitive. Yet the film has a evocative scene where a young teenager with several parts of her body pierced by rings is totally amazed by the devotion of the aging husband for his wife. So in a way the film reaches out to different age groups. Though it talks about sex, it can be safe family viewing material.
Chances are that most viewers will love the film if they are interested in films that are different from "the American films that get shown in multiplexes" to quote a character in the film. More importantly this film advertises the problem of Alzheimer's disease eloquently and artistically. It prepares you for future shocks.
The whole movie takes place on the face of Gordon Pinsent. His pain is evident every time she can't remember him. It is truly heartbreaking. Julie Christie delivers one of her greatest performances. She doesn't overact. The confusion isn't theatrical which could so easily taken as comical. It is a quiet suffering on the scraggly old face of Pinsent. The one out of step moment is the passing old man who comments that Grant's heart is breaking into a thousand pieces. It's too obvious and too on the nose.
There is something about veteran actors taking all their life experiences and putting it on the screen. It's something that can't be faked. And it can't be done with younger actors. We saw a man breaking right in front of us on the screen.
Memory comes in and out in AWAY FROM HER. With the image often filling with white and veering on blurry like a blinding snowstorm, Polley sets the tone from the start. Memory is a hazy concept. Alzheimer's is a cruel game that has Fiona having difficulty maintaining her short-term memory, like why she left the house or common words, while some of the most painful memories in her life seem like they will never be forgotten. Her story unfolds as she decides to admit herself to a retirement facility so that her husband needn't be responsible for her. This particular "home" enforces a policy where new residents are not allowed to have any contact with the loved ones they left behind for the first thirty days after they are admitted. When Grant is finally able to return to the residence, it isn't clear whether Fiona even recognizes him and worse yet, she has found comfort in the company of another man (Michael Murphy). As painful as this reality is, Polley cuts away to another time and place throughout this build, allowing us a glimpse into where Grant will end up as a result of all this change. As a result, the film feels interrupted. It is one of few mistakes made by this novice filmmaker but fortunately not one that makes the film any less painful.
Polley directs three beautifully nuanced performances from her leads. As Grant, Pinsett is bewildered, stubborn and hopeful depending on the moment. Despite all of his frustration, he is constantly searching for understanding and resolve for the memories even he has difficulty letting go of. Olympia Dukakis joins the cast as Marian, the wife of Aubrey, the man Fiona befriends in the residence. She is a tough woman, brass because she has to be. For Grant, she represents what he could have become had it been decided that he would care for his wife himself. Her life is one that was surrendered to supporting her husband through his illness, forcing personal happiness to be removed as a possibility. Naturally, given the nature of the part, it is Christie that pulls the viewer deep into a mind that is falling away. In one scene, Grant brings her home for a day. She marvels at how it was kept so well after all this time. Though the home she is seeing was her own for over twenty years, she looks on it as if it belonged to someone else. The way her eyes take in the surroundings, an environment that she should know intimately, suggests a sense of attachment intrinsically linked with a saddened detachment. She should know this place, these things, and one some level she does. She does not understand why she should feel a sense of familiarity, just that it is so. It is as though memories flood back to her but they aren't her own.
AWAY FROM HER is a fantastic first film from a talented Canadian actress with great promise as both a perceptive writer and skilled director. It is also a lesson in patience and learning to let go. Not for the viewer but for those on screen. Grant must always exercise restraint while allowing the love of his life to find solace in another man. After all, what matters most is that she be at peace. As big a task as this is, Fiona must do even more. She must accept that the life she knew is behind her and that the one ahead of her is new, necessary and one that might fade away from her as quickly as it happens to her.
Wusstest du schon
- WissenswertesJulie Christie turned the script down the first time it was sent to her. She would do this several times over the course of a year until Sarah Polley's determination wore her down.
- PatzerThe misspelling of Fiona's name by Fiona herself is a typical and revealing error made by Alzheimer's patients. Coming as it does just after Grant has tried to use the episode of her remembering the recent walk in the park and finding the skunk lilies as a means of continuing his denial, the misspelling brings home to him the futility of his resistance to the truth about her condition.
- Zitate
Kristy: And, how old were you when you met?
Grant Anderson: She was 18.
Kristy: Holy! That's pretty young to get married, eh?
Grant Anderson: Wasn't my idea.
Kristy: You mean she proposed to you? Well, that's lovely, that's what I think. How'd she do it?
Grant Anderson: She hadn't planned it necessarily. We were in Tobermory, waiting for the ferry to Manitoulin, and it was miserable and rainy, and she was in a good mood. And, she didn't want any part of my sour mood.
Kristy: What'd she do, what'd she say?
Grant Anderson: Well, she said: "Do you think it'd be fun... Do you think it'd be fun if we got married?"
Kristy: And what did you say?
Grant Anderson: I took her up on it. I shouted yes.
[pause]
Grant Anderson: I never wanted to be away from her. She had the spark of life.
- SoundtracksHarvest Moon
Performed by Neil Young
Written by Neil Young
Silver Fiddle Music (ASCAP)
Licensed courtesy of Warner Music Canada
Used by permission
All rights reserved
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Details
Box Office
- Budget
- 4.000.000 CA$ (geschätzt)
- Bruttoertrag in den USA und Kanada
- 4.571.521 $
- Eröffnungswochenende in den USA und in Kanada
- 114.628 $
- 6. Mai 2007
- Weltweiter Bruttoertrag
- 9.194.283 $
- Laufzeit
- 1 Std. 50 Min.(110 min)
- Farbe
- Sound-Mix
- Seitenverhältnis
- 1.85 : 1