I don't go to the cinema very often these days, certainly not for films. It seems quite an expensive way to see them, particularly considering that I go to a fair few live performances and have a fairly extensive/expensive satellite TV package.
I have watched a fair few films of late, but many of them are old, many of those are rehashes for me, and several of them were inconsequential and forgettable.
A week or so ago we settled down to watch Away From Her. A fascinating work and probably not one for young people. The basic plot is that a woman develops early-onset Alzheimers and eventually moves into a residential home.
It's a film that focuses the mind somewhat. I suppose we all prefer not to think about Alzheimers, certainly not about it happening to us, especially not if we have one or more parents alive. I think that the woman was the same age or younger than Jimmy is, which is young, and I suppose seeing it happen to someone who lives a healthy and active life is poignant.
Jimmy reflected that it must be very difficult for the one who is left behind in good mental health. I suppose what made me sad was the early stages when she knew it was happening and was lucid as often as she wasn't. That must be very frightening. It's probably less frightening when the mind goes. I did reassure Jimmy that I'd tell him if he started showing early signs, such as forgetting people's names. He gave me a look (he's spent his entire life forgetting people's names). I then ran the same theory past a friend who is a bit of a Julie Christie fan - and he gave me an identical look, for identical reasons!
A plot spoiler, a bit. I wondered about the part where the husband-left-behind started dating a woman whose husband was also in the home. Jimmy commented that there would be people who would condemn them, but he doesn't see anything wrong in it. I don't see anything wrong and I certainly don't think the malicious outrage of village gossips is ever a reason for not doing something. I think I have always accepted that such a relationship doesn't really count as infidelity - often what keeps people going on caring for incapacitated partners is the emotional release they get from a functioning relationship. I suppose my concern is that when people feel a bond with someone going through the same turmoil, they can confuse that with something more enduring. But I don't think that the risk of one of them getting hurt should ever in itself be a moral argument against two people getting together.
It was a very beautiful film, beautifully filmed and full of light. Julie Christie and Gordon Pinsent both delivered performances that were the more poignant and dramatic because they were sparse and understated.
I suppose what troubled me was that it was too clean. The residential home seemed perfect. Perhaps it's like that in Canada, but it seemed unreal to me. I don't just mean the absence of abuse but although there only seemed to be one nurse, she was able to take a close interest in the life of the patient's husband. And all the residents seemed happy and occupied. And the husband seemed too accepting, too full of equilibrium. He didn't seem to be angry or depressed, a bit lost maybe. I got no sense of chaos or crisis. Made for an enjoyable film, but not particularly realistic.
