AWAY FROM HER

Director: Sarah Polley
Cast: Julie Christie, Gordon Pinsent, Olympia Dukakis, Michael Murphy, Wendy Crewson
Run Time: 110 minutes
Country: Canada
Language: English
Rating: Not yet rated
Reviews

 

One of Canada’s national treasures, Sarah Polley has been acting since she was six years old, making her start on television and moving into acclaimed films such as THE SWEET HEREAFTER, THE HANGING GARDEN, 3 NEEDLES and BEOWULF & GRENDEL.

A passionate advocate for Canadian cinema, she moved into the director’s chair with the 2001 Genie Award-winning short film I SHOUT LOVE, and has dedicated the last two years to her tremendously moving debut feature, AWAY FROM HER.

AWAY FROM HER was a Gala Presentation at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival®, where it met with critical and popular acclaim. Grant (Gordon Pinsent, THE SHIPPING NEWS, SAINT RALPH) and Fiona (Julie Christie, DR. ZHIVAGO, FINDING NEVERLAND) have been married for fifty years and have what many consider the perfect life together, full of laughter and love. But as Fiona begins to suffer memory loss, her inadvertent references to her past create difficult complications. The agonizing decision is made to move Fiona into a nursing home, and Grant is advised not to see her for a month so she can adjust – even though they’ve never spent this much time apart. When he finally visits her, she’s forgotten him and has fallen in love with Aubrey (Michael Murphy, MAGNOLIA, CHILDSTAR), a man she has met in the home. Grant refuses to give up on the love of his life, but when Aubrey’s wife (Olympia Dukakis MOONSTRUCK, 3 NEEDLES) removes him from the home, Fiona is left in a massive depression that forces Grant to contemplate the greatest sacrifice of his life.

Adapted by Polley with tenderness and sensitivity from her favourite short story – Alice Munro’s “The Bear Came Over the Mountain” – AWAY FROM HER boasts emotionally evocative cinematography from Luc Montpellier (THE SADDEST MUSIC IN THE WORLD) and a host of immensely heartfelt performances from a masterful cast. This film is not to be missed.

“[Polley] relishes the written word, especially as enlivened by the warm rumble of Pinsent’s voice, which can make even the decay of neurons sound like sticky poetry. But she doesn’t play up the story’s literary origins with lots of voice-over – instead allowing this short and heartbreaking chapter in a long relationship to stand on its own.”
– John DeFore, The Hollywood Reporter

“Christie is poignantly appealing, easily suggesting a woman Grant might still be fascinated by after nearly a half-century. But it’s Pinsent who really carries the bulk of screen time and the film itself, in a perfectly restrained turn.”
– Dennis Harvey, Variety

This is a special pre-release screening, arranged by the distributor, Capri Releasing, to raise funds for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.

The net proceeds will be donated to the local chapter of the Alzheimer’s Society of Canada.


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