On May 1, my plan for the evening was to wrap up all work in time for the 9 p.m. movie – Body of Lies was going to be screened. I was surfing channels prior to that, and then I across Away from Her. I had already missed the initial parts, but I started watching the movie since Julie Christie was familiar (she was in Finding Neverland).
A 45-year old marriage is the centre of its story, and the movie shows how the Alzheimer’s disease changes equations and definitions of love. Christie plays Fiona who suffers from Alzheimer’s, and she takes the decision to move to a nursing home given her deteriorating condition. One of the ‘rules’ placed by the home is that there should be no outside contact for the first 30 days of stay.
After a month when Grant (Fiona's husband) comes to meet her, he finds that Fiona has forgotten him and has now become affectionate towards a mute man named Aubrey bound on a wheelchair. Aubrey’s wife Marian withdraws him from the nursing home after a few days because of lack of funds, and then Grant watches Fiona’s condition worsen considerably. He then decides to approach Marian and asks her to allow Aubrey to visit Fiona at the nursing center. In the process, he develops a relationship with Marian.
Three scenes stayed with me.
While speaking to Kristy the nurse, Grant conveys that he feels Fiona is paying him back for his past infidelities by getting attracted to another man. The conversation goes this way:
Would I recommend watching the movie? Yes! It is a moving (and at times difficult) account of how the definition of love changes over years.
A 45-year old marriage is the centre of its story, and the movie shows how the Alzheimer’s disease changes equations and definitions of love. Christie plays Fiona who suffers from Alzheimer’s, and she takes the decision to move to a nursing home given her deteriorating condition. One of the ‘rules’ placed by the home is that there should be no outside contact for the first 30 days of stay.
After a month when Grant (Fiona's husband) comes to meet her, he finds that Fiona has forgotten him and has now become affectionate towards a mute man named Aubrey bound on a wheelchair. Aubrey’s wife Marian withdraws him from the nursing home after a few days because of lack of funds, and then Grant watches Fiona’s condition worsen considerably. He then decides to approach Marian and asks her to allow Aubrey to visit Fiona at the nursing center. In the process, he develops a relationship with Marian.
Three scenes stayed with me.
While speaking to Kristy the nurse, Grant conveys that he feels Fiona is paying him back for his past infidelities by getting attracted to another man. The conversation goes this way:
Grant: “Well I sometimes wonder”Grant is watching Fiona have lunch with Aubrey. A young girl, Monica, has come to visit her grandfather and is bored out of her wits. She sits next to him, and they then engage in a conversation.
Kristy: “You wonder what?”
Grant: “I wonder whether she isn’t putting on some kind of charade.”
Kristy: “A what?”
Grant: “Some kind of act. Maybe a kind of punishment.”
Kristy: “Now why would she do that.”
Monica: “So...why aren’t you sitting with her?When Grant is reading out from a book about Iceland. “Iceland is... It’s in the middle of the Atlantic. It’s an island. It’s the youngest country in the world. It’s constantly erupting. Volcanos and earthquakes. It’s always...shaking itself off.” This brought home the recent images that I had seen.
Grant: “Oh... I’ve learned to give her a little bit of space. She’s in love with the man she’s sitting with. I don’t like to disturb her. I just...like to see her I suppose. I like to make sure that she’s doing well….I suppose it seems rather pathetic.”
Monica: “If the guy I’m dating right now? If he was like you? I should be so lucky.”
Would I recommend watching the movie? Yes! It is a moving (and at times difficult) account of how the definition of love changes over years.
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