Away From Her Analysis

REVIEW Away From Her is a touching Canadian film starring Gorden Pinsent, Olympia Dukakis and Julie Christie about the effects of Alzheimer’s on an aging couple married for 44 years. Christie gives a powerful portrayal of a woman who slowly succumbs to the effects of this dreaded disease. Pinsent is also as effective as the helpless feeling husband who has the indistinct and difficult task of putting her into a home where he later learns that her memory is deteriorating. She begins to not recognize him anymore and later on, it becomes more of just a friendship as opposed to being a married couple. Christie then takes up friendship with a man in the home who is also suffering from Alzheimer’s and Pinsent chooses to patiently and persistently
However saddening this movie was, it also served as a good reality check for me. I’ve never had to directly deal with Alzheimer’s so it was good for me to see its effects, both physically and emotionally. After getting past the unfortunate memory loss of Christie in the film, I found ways in which I could apply her mishap to my own life. Even though I didn’t have a very close relationship with my grandfather, I recently found out that he suffered from a mild case of Alzheimer’s. Knowing this, I’ve realized that it is possible for my mom or aunts to suffer from the disease as well. After seeing how persistent yet patient Pinsent was with his wife in the nursing home, I found that I will need to be patient when dealing with any elderly person, whether family or not, when they suffer from Alzheimer’s. I can’t imagine how frustrating it must be for them to forget little things that used to come so natural to them. If I can be a faithful light to them who stays patient in their times of trouble, I feel that I will be able to be as impacting and loving as Gorden Pinsent in his daily devotion to his