Despite the amount of people afflicted with dementia, Alzheimer’s remains a subject few readily discuss. Perhaps because they forget what they’re talking about. It’s certainly the case for the central characters in Sarah Polley’s gut-wrenching, and heart-breaking, debut feature. What seems an unlikely choice for the gifted actor, after all this isn’t a film with broad, multiplex, teenage appeal, is in keeping with some of her best work as an actor. The Sweet Hereafter has a similarly muted tone. But then, Canadians are not known for making a scene.

Its rightly said that Alzheimer’s is a disease that affects everyone, not just the patient. This is the driving heart of Away From Her and one clearly understood by Polley (as screenwriter, she adapts Alice Munro’s short story – A Bear Came Over The Mountain). Fiona (Julie Christie) has begun to put clean frying pans in the fridge. Aware that her loving husband of forty-four years can no longer be expected to look after her, Fiona checks into a nursing home. Grant (Gordon Pinsent) is devastated by the rejection, and if a scene in which she dispatches him from the home is not harrowing enough, the realisation that his wife has forgotten him and fallen for another patient, is simply awful. Distraught, he seeks solace from the nursing staff, and friendship from the man’s wife (Olympia Dukakis). Grant visits Fiona every day, and slowly learns to give his wife the love she now needs.

Away From Her is a startling film for the depth of its accomplishment. A distressing topic that would ensnare seasoned directors is delivered quietly and delicately by the 28 year old. Polley skilfully avoids glibness and arch sentimentality to create a film laden with emotional honesty, a rarity in our manufactured media. Granted, the luminous Christie and hard-edged Dukakis make her job easier - their performances appear so effortless. Most unexpectedly, Away From Her is a remarkable, moving story that flattens romantic expectation to ask that most distressing question - how far would you go for love?

// COLIN FRASER