Two quick reactions, one very effusive.
A couple weeks ago I saw Away From Her, the directoral debut of Sarah Polley, adapting a short story by Alice Munro about a woman drifting into Alzheimer’s, grappling with the loss, while her husband does, too. Julie Christie gives an amazing, subtle central performance, as does Gordon Pinsent. It’s got a careful, slow rhythm, is edited with a non-linear precision that echoes the confusions of this disease, and is so utterly, perfectly crafted that it felt (alas) like a room impeccably designed and then hermetically sealed. Nary an emotion crept into my viewing.
I’m being rough–and I hadn’t posted on it to avoid this kind of easy slam. ‘Cause it is a good film, a “good” film, a good for you film, and all that. But tonight I watched a film with similar ambitions–written with a delicate precision, acted with great intensity–yet this film in large part succeeded, often quite astonishingly. The Secret Life of Words stars Sarah Polley, Continue reading Writers writing, actors acting