We watched this late last night after finding our power back on--nothing like brief deprivation to make you turn on everything that runs on electricity.
Anyway, this is the story of Fiona and Grant Anderson, a couple who have been married for 44 years and are now dealing with Fiona's decline into Alzheimer's. Fiona decides that she should be placed in a home for Alzheimer's patients against Grant's wishes. Grant would rather think that Fiona is just being her quirky creative self and is not, in fact, leaving him: physically because the home requires a 30 day separation from all visitors and, more importantly, in all other ways because she simply won't remember him yet he will see her and remember everything they've had for 44 years.
Julie Christie is wonderful as Fiona but I thought Gordon Pinsent was incredible as Grant. You could just see his discouragement, hope, love, and intense sadness and loss in his face at every moment. The flashbacks to the young Julie Christie look alike were slightly off-putting to me but just because they didn't seem to accomplish much. I can imagine what she looked like when she was younger (I know, as a matter of fact, because I've seen photos/movies etc.) and I just don't need basically still images of that actress throughout the movie. I did love the flashbacks Grant had to her skiing.
It's a sad movie but, me being me and having my views on aging and marriage and whatnot, found the end somewhat hopeful and the whole thing is very sweet and lovely.
No comments:
Post a Comment