Just in time for the Oscar’s – Feb 24^th, the movie Away From Her offers a portrait of a woman slowly dissolving into Alzheimer’s. Her husband of over 40 years, Grant, watches as his wife, Fiona, puts frying pans into the freezer, instantly forgets what a bottle of wine is for, and covers the house with a flurry of yellow post-it notes. Fiona ,played by the inimitable and still quite beautiful Julie Christie, says, “I’m plagued by the sense that I’ve forgotten something terribly important but can’t remember what it is…I just wander around half the time trying to figure out what was so important earlier.”

The film is not just a perspective piece of what it’s like in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, but also a sensitive and quiet look at what it’s like for a couple and their long-term marriage. The husband, Grant, resists moving his wife into a nursing home, which has a policy of not allowing contact with loved ones for the first 30 days. What happens after he returns, offers a surprise twist that aptly explores the nature of love and memory.

Christie is nominated as best actress in a leading role. The film is also nominated for best adapted screenplay by the young actress Sarah Polley, who wrote and directed the film from a short story by Alice Munro called The Bear Came Over the Mountain. In a supporting role, Olympia Dukakis is memorable as a wife whose husband resides in the same nursing home - and has given up on intimacy and love.

Read the original Alice Munro story

Read a full review

Listen to the NPR review and podcast

Filed under: AGIS, Alzheimer's, Care Facilities, Caregiving, Community, Elder Issues, Eldercare, Health & Safety, Movies