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Away From Her . . . no longer just the favorite vacation destination of married men, it’s now a movie!
Away From Her stars Julie Cristie and Gordon Pinsent who are a retired couple enjoying the freedom they now have. Their lives are seemingly perfect until she is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Gordon is having a hard time accepting this is happening. Julie herself has to ultimately make the decision to move to a home when she can’t function anymore in the real world. Gordon is faced with having to watch Julie slip away from him and watching Julie being comforted by another man who also has Alzheimer’s. Olympia Dukakis, who is marred to the man now befriended by Julie, can’t deal with any of it. The movie is the profound emotional journey of those suffering from the disease and those who aren’t who have to cope with real life.
Beautifully filmed, extremely well acted by the main characters, and subject matter that will hit home with a lot of people, Away From Her represents some solid filmmaking. Artistically superb, it will no doubt be most often described by the ever popular “critically acclaimed” mantra. However, this is a sad and depressing story that many will find too painful to watch. Also, many critics will fail to note how it does little more than simply show us the tragedy. There’s little coping, no resolution, and certainly no happy ending . . . no ending at all, in fact, for what seems like an eternity. Artistic merits aside, the massive despair and excruciatingly slow pace of Away from Her will make for a less than enjoyable experience for many. |
