For British philosopher and novelist Iris Murdoch, words, idea and thoughts were her second great love.

Her first love was literary critic and university lecturer John Bayley, who was her husband of 40 years.

Murdoch had numerous affairs with both men and women but, as she always told Bayley, those were mere physical diversions. He was her only soulmate.

Murdoch was stricken with Alzheimer's disease, which robbed her of her world of words and ideas but failed to rob her of Bayley's love.

Though he was in his 70s, he cared for her until her death in 1999, and that was no easy feat.

Bayley was the epitome of the absent-minded professor.

When Iris could no longer cook and clean for them, the couple lived in squalor.

The last years of Murdoch's life are the basis of the heartbreaking British film, Iris, which opens in theatres today, showcasing four remarkable performances.

As Murdoch, Judi Dench gives a subtle, insightful look at how this disease lays waste to its victims.

Before the onset, Dench's Murdoch is a vivacious, confident, outspoken literary genius.

Gradually she loses her ability to form sentences or identify common objects; yet she remains fiesty enough to lash back at the doctors who are studying the effects of Alzheimer's on such a brilliant mind.

It almost seems as if Dench is not acting, such is the genius of her performance. She never resorts to histrionics, instead showing deterioration through Murdoch's shuffling, stuttering, repetitive motions and increasingly blank stare.

Dench more than deserves her Oscar nomination, as does Kate Winslet, who plays the younger Iris.

Winslet shows what a free-spirited libertarian Murdoch was.

It is Winslet who lets us know how difficult it must have been for Bayley to court the writer and live with her until age began to mellow her a little.

Superb as Dench and Winslet are, it's Jim Broadbent and Hugh Bonneville (who play Bayley) who make the film soar.

It is to their inestimable credit that it almost seems as if Broadbent is playing both the young and the old Bayley.

Iris is a difficult film to watch because it is so unflinchingly candid.

Its honesty is so powerful that it ends up tearing at the viewer's heart and soul.

It's the kind of film that remains almost as compelling after it is over as it is while it unfolds.

(This film is rated AA)

More Movie Reviews