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Away From Her
I often ponder how much meaning a single moment can have; a related question is whether it matters if this single moment is connected to many years of complementary life experiences. Meditations on the nature of marriage and also identity remain favorite topics of mine. The morally complex Canadian drama Away From Her concerns the evolution of Alzheimer's in a woman and her husband's reactions. It is one of the best movies I have seen, ever, though it is hard to say more without spoiling the surprises. It is guaranteed to make you cry, and I'm not referring to the ending. For the wonks it even has some bits on health care policy.
Here is more information. And if you are interested in Alzheimer's, John Bayley's Elegy for Iris is one of my favorite books.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on June 9, 2007 at 07:48 AM in Film | Permalink
Comments
couple months can change things a lot, then vast reams of mediocrity.. usually over summers... ponds and streams and glens, changing things all over the sun
Posted by: adrian at Jun 9, 2007 9:35:07 AM
Why confine it to a moment? How much meaning can a lifetime have? What's meaning?
Posted by: JP at Jun 9, 2007 12:57:33 PM
Good movie, but far from one of the best ever for me. I found all of the characters annoying above anything else and noticed nothing interesting about the aesthetic. Overall, too American, eh? I did not cry but majority in the theater did, lots.
Posted by: Mike Linksvayer at Jun 9, 2007 1:41:46 PM
You have to be one of the perfect people to feel for the perfect people. If not, even witnessing their agony, it's hard to work up much sympathy.
Posted by: ricpic at Jun 9, 2007 6:35:31 PM
Overall, too American, eh?
I loved the reading of Michael Ondaatje's poem Cinnamon Peeler's Wife along with the soundtrack that included Neil Young's Harvest Moon and then Helpless sung by KD Lang.
Posted by: juliette at Jun 11, 2007 11:52:34 AM
i read that if you read books, play chess, etc. more often you're less likely to get alzheimer's. i wonder if this was intentionally done in the movie, with her being constantly read to? i doubt it, but its a nice thought.
http://www.thenewsroom.com/details/456446?c_id=wom-bc-mam
--matthew from the health desk at thenewsroom.com
Posted by: matthew at Jun 30, 2007 10:53:30 PM
We also did not cry. We were disappointed in the passivity, having cared for my grandmother who had dementia, the journey is filled with extreme emotions, laughter and tears, anger and joy. We felt it was too romanticized.
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