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Away from Her

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Away from Her
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySarah Polley
Screenplay bySarah Polley
Produced byDaniel Iron
Simone Urdl
Jennifer Weiss
StarringJulie Christie
Gordon Pinsent
Olympia Dukakis
Michael Murphy
Kristen Thomson
Wendy Crewson
CinematographyLuc Montpellier
Edited byDavid Wharnsby
Music byJonathan Goldsmith
Production
companies
Capri Releasing
Echo Lake Productions
Foundry Films
Hanway Films
The Film Farm
Distributed byCapri Releasing
Pulling Focus Pictures
Lionsgate Films (US)
Release dates
  • September 11, 2006 (2006-09-11) (Toronto)
  • May 4, 2007 (2007-05-04) (Canada)
Running time
110 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguageEnglish
Box office$9,194,283[1]

Away from Her is a 2006 Canadian drama film written and directed by Sarah Polley and starring Gordon Pinsent, Julie Christie and Olympia Dukakis. The feature-length directorial debut of Polley, the film is based on Alice Munro's short story "The Bear Came Over the Mountain", from the 2001 collection Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage. It was executive produced by Atom Egoyan (Polley's director in both Exotica and The Sweet Hereafter) and distributed by Lionsgate. It debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival and also played in the Premier category at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.

The story centers on a couple whose marriage is tested when Christie's character begins to suffer from Alzheimer's and moves into a nursing home, where she loses virtually all memory of her husband and begins to develop a close relationship with another nursing home resident. The cast also includes Michael Murphy, Wendy Crewson, Alberta Watson, Lili Francks and Kristen Thomson.

The film was shot primarily in Hamilton,[2] with some location shooting in Brant, Kitchener, and Paris, Ontario.[citation needed]

Plot

Grant (Pinsent) and Fiona (Christie) are a retired married couple living in rural Brant County, Ontario. Fiona begins to lose her memory, and it becomes apparent she suffers from Alzheimer's disease. Throughout the film, Grant's reflections on his marriage are woven with his reflections on his own infidelities, and influence his eventual decisions regarding Fiona's happiness.

When she feels she is becoming a risk to herself, Fiona decides to check into a nursing home, where one of the rules is that a patient cannot have any visitors for the first 30 days, in order to "adjust." Wary of this policy, Grant agrees anyway, at the insistence of his wife whom he loves. During the drive to the home, Fiona acknowledges Grant's past infidelity while he was a university professor. Despite the awkward situation, the couple makes love one last time before separating.

When the 30-day period ends, Grant goes to visit his wife again, only to find she has forgotten him, and turned her affections to Aubrey (Murphy), a mute man in a wheelchair who has become her "coping partner" in the facility. A caregiver at the facility befriends Grant and gives him some advice and support.

While seeing his wife grow closer to Aubrey, Grant becomes an unhappy voyeur when visiting his wife at the nursing home. As time goes by and Fiona still does not remember him, Grant even wonders whether Fiona's dementia is an act, to punish him for his past indiscretions. After some time, Aubrey's wife Marian (Dukakis) removes him from the home due to financial difficulties. This causes Fiona to sink into a deep depression, with her physical well-being also appearing to deteriorate. Grant is touched by this, and visits Marian in an effort to allow Fiona to see Aubrey again. He would rather see his wife happy with another man than miserable and alone. Marian initially refuses, but the meeting leads to a tentative relationship between her and Grant.

As time passes, Grant continues to visit both Fiona and Marian. He eventually succeeds in taking Aubrey back to visit his wife. But in his "moment alone" before he brings Aubrey into Fiona's room, Fiona temporarily remembers him and the love she has for him. The film closes on their embrace.

Cast

Production

Sarah Polley was on a flight back from working on Hal Hartley's No Such Thing in Iceland when she read the Alice Munro short story "The Bear Came Over the Mountain" in The New Yorker. "I was so unbelievably moved by the story. I had just finished working with Julie Christie, and as I read, I kept seeing Julie's face in the character of Fiona," said Polley. "I am certainly not one of those people who reflectively thinks about adapting stories; I just want to leave the things I love alone. But this fascinated me. I read the story and I saw the film and I knew what the film was."

At that point of Polley's career, she had been acting since the age of six, and had written and directed two short films, Don't Think Twice and The Best Day of my Life. "For two years, I couldn't get the story out of my head and finally asked producer Danny Iron to look into getting the rights. I threw myself into writing, but it's daunting, taking on the work of somebody you respect so much. Alice Munro is one of my favorite writers because she looks right through things. The characters are all so flawed, so lovable in certain moments and so detestable in others. The adaptation didn't feel like a huge process because the film was embedded in that story."

Working alongside Polley were producers Jennifer Weiss, with whom she made her Genie-award winning short I Shout Love, and Simone Urdl, partners in the production company The Film Farm, and Daniel Iron of Foundry Films who produced Polley's first short Don't Think Twice. Atom Egoyan served as executive producer. Daniel Iron, having known Polley for a very long time, never doubted her ability to direct a feature. "I know how fiercely intelligent and diligent she is. She's been on sets since she was young and knows the craft better than any first time director. She shot-listed her first draft of the script."

The DVD release of the film also included Polley's 2001 short film I Shout Love as a bonus feature.[3]

Critical reception

The film received universal acclaim from critics. As of January 6, 2008, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 95% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 128 reviews.[4] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 88 out of 100 signifying 'universal acclaim' based on 36 reviews.[5]

Top ten lists

The film appeared on many critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2007.[6]

Awards and nominations

Genie Awards

The film was nominated for eight Genie Awards, presented annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, and won seven out of eight categories for which it was nominated,[10] including Best Motion Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Pinsent), Best Actress (Christie), Best Supporting Actress (Thomson), Best Adapted Screenplay and the Claude Jutra Award for best feature film by a first-time director.[11] The only award it did not win was for Best Editing, which it lost to Eastern Promises.

Away From Her was the third film in Genie Award history, after Le Confessional and Atanarjuat, to win both the Claude Jutra Award and the Best Picture Genie in the same year.

Academy Awards

The film received two Academy Award nominations for the 80th Academy Awards. Christie was nominated for Best Actress and Polley was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay.[12]

Others

Julie Christie won the 2007 Critics' Choice Award for Best Actress, as well as the Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama award at the 65th Golden Globe Awards.[13] She also won Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role at the 14th Screen Actors Guild Awards held in 2008,[14] and was nominated for the Best Leading Actress BAFTA at the 61st British Academy Film Awards.[15] New York Film Critics Circle – Actress (Christie), Best First Film; Los Angeles Film Critics Association – New Generation Award (Polley); National Board of Review – Actress (Christie); TFCA – Best Canadian Film.

Criticism on the adaptation

Other

  • Demetrios Matheou, "Not Remembering to Forget", in: Sight and Sound, 2007 May; 17 (5): 12. (Interview)
  • Danny Munso, "Away from Her", in: Creative Screenwriting, 2007 Mar–Apr; 14 (2): 30.

References

  1. ^ "Away from Her (2007)". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved July 4, 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ "Internet Movie Database - List of Films shot in Hamilton, Ontario". Retrieved 2008-01-29.
  3. ^ "Polley electrifies in directing debut". Montreal Gazette, September 14, 2007.
  4. ^ "Away from Her - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 3 January 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-06. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ "Away from Her (2007): Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 17 January 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-06. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "Metacritic: 2007 Film Critic Top Ten Lists". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 2008-01-02. Retrieved 2008-01-05. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ Away from her best Drama of 2007 Archived January 28, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ a b David Germain; Christy Lemire (2007-12-27). "'No Country for Old Men' earns nod from AP critics". Associated Press, via Columbia Daily Tribune. Archived from the original on 2008-01-03. Retrieved 2007-12-31. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ Roger Ebert (2007-12-20). "The year's ten best films and other shenanigans". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 24 December 2007. Retrieved 2008-01-05. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ John McCrank (2008-03-04). ""Away From Her" dominates Canada's Genie Awards". Reuters. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
  11. ^ Philip Marchand (2008-03-04). "Away From Her tops Genies". Toronto Star. Archived from the original on 5 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-08. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ "Nominees - 80th Annual Academy Awards". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on 2008-01-23. Retrieved 2008-01-22. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ "65th Golden Globe Awards Nominations & Winners". goldenglobes.org. Archived from the original on 13 December 2007. Retrieved 2008-01-13. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ "Final 14th Annual SAG Awards Recipient Press Release". Screen Actors Guild. 2008-01-27. Archived from the original on May 9, 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-27. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ BAFTA Awards database
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