Away From Her and The Savages were recognized in the Oscar nominations this week. Sarah Polley was nominated for Best Screenplay Adaptation for the script of Away From Her, and Julie Christie was nominated for Best Actress. Laura Linney was also nominated for Best Actress for her work in The Savages.
Christie seems a shoe-in, given that Oscars are rather notorious for going to people in “crip” roles. The Academy seems to love it when a gorgeous star dares to lose the veil of celebrity by taking on the role of someone with serious stigma – be it physical disabilities (My Left Foot for example), homosexuality (Brokeback Mountain or Boys Don’t Cry), or cognitive disability (Iris, or What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? or Rain Man). Here’s a list of pretty famous films about people with disabilities…
I also happen to think Christie deserves the Oscar, as does Polley. Media coverage of the film tended to focus on the fact that Polley was still in her twenties when she wrote the script, adapted from Alice Munro’s short story, “The Bear Went Over the Mountain.” The subtext here is “why in the WORLD would a woman in her twenties write about a couple with Alzheimer’s?” Why? Because Alzheimer’s, or whatever Christie’s character had in the film, taps into epic questions like: what does it mean to commit oneself to another person for life? What is real love? Is memory the boundary of self?
The script, the direction (why wasn’t Polley nominated for direction?), and Christie’s portrayal of Fiona all combine to create a tale of late life and love that is much more than we’ve seen before of the experience of dementia. Her husband Grant (Gordon Pinsent) struggles to accept Fiona’s decision to move into a facility. But once she makes the move, she finds peace and purpose — she helps and supports (and perhaps more) a fellow resident named Aubrey.
Away From Her leaves us with questions. Did Fiona really know Grant the whole time? Did Grant betray Fiona? Did Fiona betray Grant? Does that really matter? Is the facility good or bad? Is dementia simply an awful experience? Or did Fiona and Grant succeed in finding “moments of grace?” To me, in spite of a few Hollywood/plot stylizations, the film bravely, and perfectly captures the dementia experience. Dementia is nothing if not full of questions.
