This is a story about devotion. Adapted from the celebrated author Alice Munro's short story "The Bear Came Over The Mountain", Away From Her is the lyrical screenplay of a beautiful yet unconventional love story that deals with memory and the circuitous unnameable paths of a long marriage.
Married for almost 50 years, Grant Anderson (Gordan Pinsent) and his wife Fiona (Julie Christie) are committed to each other and it appears to be unwavering, with their everyday life filled with tenderness and humor. Now retired, they live comfortably in a house in the country. The serenity is broken occasionally by references to the past, when the marriage wasn't so blissful. This tendency of Fiona's to make reference to the past along with her increasingly evident memory loss, creates serious problems in their life. Even though these incidents are brushed off as "little or nothing," it's apparent that it's become quite dramatic. With a diagnosis by their doctor, it's a fact that Fiona is suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
Julie Christie is captivating in her role as Fiona, the stunningly beautiful, magnetic, and dignified older woman. As vibrant as she is, you can see her deteriorate. It seems she has the ability to do this without seeming strained or forced.
Canadian icon Gordon Pinsent plays Grant Anderson, a former professor of mythology who had a checkered past with young female students during his tenure. Grant tries to be strong in dealing with Fiona's disease, but he's also feeling weak and will do anything to save the woman he loves. He plays all those emotions at the same time, and it is fascinating.
There are underlying characters in this film that make this work gracefully, such as Olympia Dukakis as Marian, and her husband Aubrey played by Michael Murphy. Aubrey is a patient at the Meadowlake facility where Fiona is being cared for. Fiona is loosing her memory of her husband now they are apart, and the added twist is that Aubrey and Fiona had a casual fling forty-five years ago. Marion must deal with her husband and his new attraction to fellow patient Fiona, and Grant must do the same. Meanwhile, the head nurse named Kristy (Kristen Thomas), who sympathizes with Grant, is given a role that guides Grant in his situation, and insists that he stand by his wife — even if that means that she can't remember who he is or what he is to her.
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