High Art

After the trash of the past twenty or so years -- titles withheld to protect the incompetent -- someone finally makes a movie with a lesbian love angle that not only works, but shines. An exquisite performance by Ally Sheedy highlights this haunting study of a woman and the culture which ensnares her. A solid plot, likable -- if not perfect -- characters give flesh and blood to this dark character study. Added kudos to Patricia Clarkson; she took a character who tread the fine line between sympathetic and just plain pathetic and made Greta a complex, but not confusing nor inconsistent, woman. Well done, all around!

I thought this movie was absolutely beautiful.

To begin with, the cinematography was a wonderful experiment. A variety of contemporary photographers were hired to shoot individual scenes or stills used in the movie. While this device could have left us with a fragmented feeling, it worked quite well to put us in the mind of characters who work in "art" photography.

The plot was poignant and difficult. While it could have left me unsatisfied with a Hollywood ending, it took a bolder route, which in the end was much more satisfying.

I felt that the acting was quite well done. This script could have led to a lot of really dreadful mugging for the camera, but the director got very specific performances from a talented cast.

Though not as widely acclaimed as "Laurel Canyon" I thought this movie was more satisfying. If you liked Canyon, this one definitely deserves to be seen.

None of the characters in this film are the stereotypes you might expect, and a few of the performances are simply magnificent. Patricia Clarkson in particular probably won't be an Oscar contender, but certainly should be. The two leads are also played to perfection, and I enjoyed the film far more than I had anticipated. Definitely should not have been relegated to the art-house circuit.

In 'the age of indies', where we currently find ourselves, a common technique is to heavy hand the viewer, scaring him with the harsh realities of some off-beat lifestyle.

And all those possibilities exist in High Art, where the real grunge of lower Manhattan is briefly exposed, yet here, the filmmaker chooses to seduce us with it, rather than hit us over the head.

Ally Sheedy does a good job as druggie social misfit, Lucy Berliner. Lucy's been able to lead a life devoid of any traditional responsibility, choosing instead to hang out with a sub-culture of drug motivated homosexual and asexual miscreants, where days and years pass by faster than a paper calendar unfurling in a Frank Capra movie.

That she might jump start a promising career as a photographer under the bright-eyed prodding of young Syd (Radha Mitchell) is not surprising, it's a familiar refrain. And that Lucy seduces Syd is also predictable.

Where the movie does surprise is the relaxed way in which it delivers it's message, and, although Sheedy and Mitchell are both very good, for my money the movie is damn near stolen by Patricia Clarkson, who is brilliant in every scene she plays. If you remember her as Ted Hoffman's caring, intelligent wife in year one of 'Murder One' you'll really appreciate what a marvelous actress she is.

I came in expecting to dislike the movie, and left quite pleased. I definitely recommend.

High Art is a 1998 Canadian-American independent film directed by Lisa Cholodenko and starring Ally Sheedy and Radha Mitchell.

Plot of the movie: Sydney (or simply "Syd"), age 24, is a woman who has her whole life mapped out in front of her. Living with longtime boyfriend James, and working her way up at the respected high-art photography magazine Frame, Syd has desires and frustrations that seem typical and manageable. But when a crack in her ceiling springs a leak and Syd finds herself knocking on the door of her upstairs neighbor, a chance meeting suddenly takes her on a new path.

Opening the door to an uncharted world for Syd is Lucy Berliner, a renowned photographer, enchanting, elusive, and curiously retired. Now 40, Lucy lives with her once glamorous, heroin-addicted German girlfriend Greta, and plays host to a collection of hard-living party kids. Syd is fascinated by Lucy and becomes drawn into the center of Lucy's strangely alluring life upstairs.

Syd mentions Lucy to her bosses (without realising that she is famous) but they remain uninterested until they realise exactly who Lucy is. At a lunch, Lucy agrees to work for the magazine as long as Syd is her editor. Soon a working relationship develops between the two and a project is underway which promises a second chance for Lucy's career. But as Syd and Lucy's collaboration draws them closer together, their working relationship turns sexual and the lines between love and professionalism suddenly blur. As Syd slowly discovers the darker truths of Lucy's life on the edge, she is forced to confront her own hunger for recognition and the uncertain rewards of public esteem.

Sweet women and an impressive lesbian theme movie.