Away from Her [WS]

Director: Sarah Polley Sarah Polley

Overview

Filmmaker Atom Egoyan -- a longtime onscreen collaborator with the gifted young actress Sarah Polley (The Sweet Hereafter) -- executive-produced Polley's directorial debut, Away from Her, starring Julie Christie, Olympia Dukakis, Michael Murphy, and Wendy Crewson. Adapted by Polley from a short story by Alice Munro, this small-scaled two-character drama concerns Grant (Gordon Pinsent) and Fiona (Christie), a long-married couple, well into their golden years, who are much in love and connected to one another on every level. "Soul mates" in the purest sense of the term, the two feel a sense of ease and tranquility in their rural home. But when Fiona's memory begins to slip away and she insists on being taken to a rest home, the decision stirs up torrents of guilt and regret in Grant's heart. The rules of the center only complicate matters, as they forbid visitation and communication with Fiona for an interminable period of time. He determines to support his wife at all costs, even if must happen at the expense of his own peace of mind.

Product Details

Release Date:	09/11/2007
UPC:	0031398217954
Original Release:	2006
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	LIONSGATE - 600000-AEC LGE
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:50:00
Sales rank:	43,839

Special Features

Feature commentary with actress Julie Christie; Deleted scenes; Deleted scenes commentary with director Sarah Polley; 16x9 widescreen presentation; 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby Digital audio; English and Spanish subtitles

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Julie Christie	Fiona Anderson
Gordon Pinsent	Grant Anderson
Olympia Dukakis	Marian
Wendy Crewson	Madeleine Montpellier
Kristen Thomson	Kristy
Alberta Watson	Dr. Fischer
Deanna Dezmari	Veronica
Carolyn Heatherington	Eliza
Melanie Merkosky	Singing Nurse
Stacey LaBerge	Fiona
Thomas Hauff	William Hart
Clare Coulter	Phoebe Hart
Lili Francks	Theresa
Grace Lynn Kung	Betty
Janet van de Graaf	Rebecca Albright
Andrew Moodie	Liam
Tom Harvey	Michael
Judy Sinclair	Mrs. Albright
Jessica Booker	Mrs. Jenkins
Catherine Fitch	Receptionist
Ron Hewat	Frank
Vanessa Vaughan	Stella
Nina Dobrev	Monica
Jason Knight	Grant
Nancy E.L. Ward	Caregiver
Michael Murphy	Actor
Jonathan Goldsmith	Composer

Technical Credits

Sarah Polley

Alice Munro

Sarah Polley	Screenwriter,Director
Atom Egoyan	Executive Producer
Doug Mankoff	Executive Producer
Daniel Iron	Producer
Simone Urdl	Producer
Jennifer Weiss	Producer
John Buchan	Casting
Alice Munro	Screenwriter
Victoria Hirst	Producer
Sue Conley	Sound Effects
John Dykstra	Sound Effects
Mark Ahee	Special Effects
Jane Tattersall	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Away From Her, Sarah Polley's deliberately paced, poignantly observed tale of how Alzheimer's disease affects a long-married couple, is filled to overflowing with remarkable acting. This is a quiet film that deals with very large emotions, but plays them very small. As Grant, Gordon Pinsent carries the hefty emotional weight of the film. The devotion he feels for his wife, combined with the anger he feels over her disease, and the guilt he has accumulated for his occasionally less than stellar behavior as a husband are all communicated in subtle shifts of his face over the course of the movie. It is a haunting performance that is both detailed and deceptively natural. By the end of the film, the audience knows him, warts and all, as well as his wife did. Julie Christie plays the wife, and her performance is a technical marvel. She has just a little bit of time in the beginning of the movie for us to understand why this woman is so loved by Grant, and then she must slowly slip into varying levels of dementia. There are no screaming fits, or crying jags. She just slowly and steadily fails to recognize common things, until those things include her husband and her love for him. Christie is always referred to as a beauty, and while this is most certainly still the case, Away From Her reminds anyone who had forgotten that she is a formidable actress. The film's overwhelmingly emotional ending sneaks up on the viewer because of the director's trust in her actors and the material. Great actors must be empathetic, and Sarah Polley, though still a young woman, was already one of the best actresses of her generation when she made this movie. Away from Her, Polley's directorial debut, exhibits patience and empathy that indicate a remarkable career behind the camera may be in store for her should she wish to follow that muse.