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Away from Her

4/22/2013

2 Comments

 
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A man struggles over the fact that his wife, who has been institutionalized for Alzheimer’s disease, is now in love with another man in the care facility. 

Fiona Anderson has just been admitted to Meadowlake long term care facility for probable Alzheimer’s disease.  For the first 30 days , Fiona is not allowed any visitors, including her husband of 42 years, Grant.  After "the adjustment" period is over, Grant is eager and nervous to see how his wife is coping.  What he finds is that Fiona’s dementia has progressed to the point where she does not recognize nor remember him and instead has transferred her affections to another patient, Aubrey. Grant struggles with sacrificing his love for Fiona, so that Fiona may find happiness.   

2 Comments
Kristen Focht
11/20/2013 02:10:57 am

"Away from Her" is a tragic story about the emotional effects Alzheimer’s disease can have not only on the patient, but also on the caretakers or family members of the person suffering from the disease. AD has a prevalence of 5-10% in persons over age 65, and a 40% prevalence in persons over age 85. Unfortunately, most people know at least one person diagnosed with AD or have personal experiences with family members regarding the disease.
Fiona displays many of the characteristics of AD including memory loss, impaired reasoning and language ability, and misperception of time. It can also be argued that Fiona experiences some personality changes as well. This is extremely difficult on her husband, Grant, especially when Fiona seems to forget all about him and is attracted to another man in the long term care facility. Emotional and physical burdens are unfortunately not uncommon for loved ones of AD patients, and this movie highlights these effects.
Cognitive and physical decline as a result of AD is difficult in itself, but in my opinion, the hardest factor to deal with would probably be the emotional changes exemplified in this movie. Grant was married to Fiona for forty-four years, and yet Fiona appears to forget him as her disease progresses. Out of Grant’s love for Fiona, he sacrifices his own happiness in an attempt to maintain hers. Even though the film ends somewhat happily for a moment, "Away from Her" is a sad reminder of the changes and consequences AD can elicit.

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Elizabeth Ann Kaplan
4/2/2015 03:08:08 pm

I am delighted to find this website. I am a humanities (film and cultural studies) professor at Stony Brook University. I am working on how Alzheimer's disease is imaged in film and literature. My first essay on this topic “’Do You Remember Me?’:Alzheimer’s Disease in Literature and Film” appeared n Health Studies Reader. Ed. Lester Friedman. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers U Press, 2013:441-452. There's an analysis of AWAY FROM HER and of a memoir by Judith Levine. It's a provocative essay, an experiment in thought, whose theories I now question somewhat!

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