by Spencer Hawken

Created on: February 19, 2008

I had not seen Julie Christie in a movie since 1992's movie The Railway Station Man in which she was reunited with her fellow Don't Look Know actor Donald Sutherland. So to see her now in Away From Her is quite a shock. Still a very attractive actress, Christie has aged considerably in 16 years; so much so that I hardly recognised the 70's icon. Having won an Oscar for her 1965 movie Darling, Christie finds herself nominated again for this movie about a woman come to grips with Alzheimer's disease.

Grant (Gordon Pinsent) and Fiona (Julie Christie) have been together for 44 years, in that time they have never been apart. 22 years ago they left their old lives behind them to live in a log cabin on the outskirts of Ontario. At their cabin it is always like winter, there is always snow on the ground. But this is good because it keeps Fiona in touch with her roots, Fiona's family come from Iceland.
Always a close couple things have been getting strained of late; Fiona is suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Well aware of her illness, because she is still fully functioning Fiona opts to go and live in a home for people suffering with the disease. For some this would be a blessing in disguise, but for Fiona and Grant this is the beginning of a downward spiral.

This is not a movie to watch and be jolly, in fact quite the opposite; this is a painfully bleak view of illness, an illness that will affect at least one person we know. What the movie does do well is show how the whole process takes place, the gradual occurrences. I'm not saying this is new territory but I don't think I have ever seen anything from either the cinema or television that gives the illness so much devoted attention.

I was quite surprised to see that the director of the movie was Sarah Polley not a household name I appreciate but an actress who is instantly recognisable from movies like Dawn Of The Dead (the remake), The Claim, and my favourite Go. I might sound condescending but for someone still so young she has not only directed a magnificent piece of film-making but adapted the screenplay from the short story The Bear Came Over The Mountain by Alice Monroe. Apparently this adaptation was carried out with Christie firmly in mind to play the lead.

Although it's Julie Christie's movie, Gordon Pinsent steals the show to some degree, allowing yourself to sit in the chair of the person who cares for the sick person. You can literally feel every one of his emotions. Especially when having installed his

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