(2006)
4
Perry Seibert
Away From Her, Sarah Polley's deliberately paced, poignantly observed tale of how Alzheimer's disease affects a long-married couple, is filled to overflowing with remarkable acting. This is a quiet film that deals with very large emotions, but plays them very small. As Grant, Gordon Pinsent carries the hefty emotional weight of the film. The devotion he feels for his wife, combined with the anger he feels over her disease, and the guilt he has accumulated for his occasionally less than stellar behavior as a husband are all communicated in subtle shifts of his face over the course of the movie. It is a haunting performance that is both detailed and deceptively natural. By the end of the film, the audience knows him, warts and all, as well as his wife did. Julie Christie plays the wife, and her performance is a technical marvel. She has just a little bit of time in the beginning of the movie for us to understand why this woman is so loved by Grant, and then she must slowly slip into varying levels of dementia. There are no screaming fits, or crying jags. She just slowly and steadily fails to recognize common things, until those things include her husband and her love for him. Christie is always referred to as a beauty, and while this is most certainly still the case, Away From Her reminds anyone who had forgotten that she is a formidable actress. The film's overwhelmingly emotional ending sneaks up on the viewer because of the director's trust in her actors and the material. Great actors must be empathetic, and Sarah Polley, though still a young woman, was already one of the best actresses of her generation when she made this movie. Away From Her, Polley's directorial debut, exhibits patience and empathy that indicate a remarkable career behind the camera may be in store for her should she wish to follow that muse.
awards for Away From Her on AllMovie
Away From Her (2006)
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
|
Nominated |
Best Actress
|
2007 |
|
Nominated |
Best Adapted Screenplay
|
2007 |
Alliance of Women Film Journalists
|
Won |
Best Actress
|
2007 |
|
Won |
Best Adapted Screenplay
|
2007 |
Berlin International Film Festival
|
Presented |
Film Presented
|
2007 |
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
|
Nominated |
Best Actress
|
2007 |
Broadcast Film Critics Association
|
Nominated |
Best Actress
|
2007 |
Chicago Film Critics Association
|
Nominated |
Best Actress
|
2007 |
|
Nominated |
Most Promising Director
|
2007 |
Dallas/Fort Worth Film Critics Association
Detroit Film Critics Society
|
Nominated |
Best Actress
|
2007 |
|
Nominated |
Best Newcomer
|
2007 |
Genie Awards
|
Nominated |
Best Actor
|
2007 |
|
Nominated |
Best Actress
|
2007 |
|
Nominated |
Best Adapted Screenplay
|
2007 |
|
Nominated |
Best Director
|
2007 |
|
Nominated |
Best Editing
|
2007 |
|
Nominated |
Best Picture
|
2007 |
|
Nominated |
Best Supporting Actress
|
2007 |
Golden Satellite Award
|
Nominated |
Best Adapted Screenplay
|
2007 |
|
Nominated |
Best Director
|
2007 |
|
Nominated |
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
|
2007 |
|
Nominated |
Best Picture - Drama
|
2007 |
Hollywood Foreign Press Association
|
Won |
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
|
2007 |
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
|
Presented |
Film Presented
|
2007 |
Los Angeles Film Critics Association
|
Won |
New Generation Award
|
2007 |
National Board of Review
|
Won |
Best Actress
|
2007 |
|
Won |
Best Independent Film
|
2007 |
National Society of Film Critics
New York Film Critics Circle
|
Won |
Best Actress
|
2007 |
|
Won |
Best First Film
|
2007 |
New York Film Critics Online
|
Won |
Best Actress
|
2007 |
|
Won |
Best Debut As Director
|
2007 |
Ohio Film Critics
|
Won |
Breakthrough Film Artist
|
2007 |
Phoenix Film Critics Association
|
Won |
Best Actress
|
2007 |
|
Won |
Breakthrough Behind the Camera
|
2007 |
San Diego Film Critics Association
San Francisco Film Critics Circle
|
Won |
Best Actress
|
2007 |
|
Won |
Best Adapted Screenplay
|
2007 |
Screen Actors Guild
Southeastern Film Critics Association
Toronto Film Critics Association
|
Nominated |
Best Actor
|
2007 |
|
Won |
Best Actress
|
2007 |
|
Won |
Best Canadian Film
|
2007 |
|
Won |
Best First Film
|
2007 |
Toronto International Film Festival
|
Presented |
Film Presented
|
2006 |
Washington D.C. Film Critics Association
