"High Art"
Reviewed by Heather Picker
Written and Directed by Lisa Cholodenko. Starring Ally Sheedy and Radha Mitchell, with Patricia Clarkson and Gabriel Mann. 1998, 101 min., Rated R.
Getting high and photography are very much a part of Lucy Berliner's (Ally Sheedy) life. With that in mind, the title of "High Art" takes on a double-meaning, as do many things in this, the feature-film debut of director Lisa Cholodenko, who also wrote the script. Lucy is a has-been, once at the top of her game as a photographer. She has sunk into oblivion with live-in girlfriend Greta (Patricia Clarkson), a washed-up, drugged out German actress who worked with Fassbinder.
Syd (Radha Mitchell, "Love and Other Catastrophes") has just been promoted to an assistant editor status at Frame magazine, which is about what else but photography. Her job mainly consists of running errands for her superiors, to which live-in boyfriend James (Gabriel Mann) is sympathetic. One evening, while taking a bath, Syd notices a leak coming from the ceiling, and decides to visit her neighbor's apartment upstairs to see if she can fix it. By this time, anyone who doesn't know what will end up happening between Syd and Lucy may have a feeling of deja vu, as women going to another residence to do handywork, usually plumbing, always seem to end up romantically involved with the woman of the house ("French Twist," "Bound").
As Syd tries to fix the leak, engaging in small talk with Lucy, she notices the beautiful photographs that cover the walls of the apartment. Within days, Syd has found out more about Lucy's career, and the two of them meet with Syd's bosses for lunch, in hopes of Lucy shooting a cover for Frame. Lucy reticently agrees to the project, but on the condition that Syd will be her editor.
The attraction between the women grows, and when Lucy wants to get away for the weekend to work, and asks Syd to join her, James, who has become suspicious of Syd's involvement with Lucy, asks if she has slept with her. She says no, and when he asks if she's leading up to it, she professes that she doesn't know. And later, when things heat up between her and Lucy, she admits that she doesn't know what to do, also tearfully tells Lucy that she thinks she is falling in love with her. The next morning, Lucy takes photographs that she will eventually ask to be used for Frame.
When the two go back home, Lucy decides that things have to change. She wants to turn her life around. She is through with drugs, and she is through with Greta. But addictions are never that easy to overcome, and withdrawn resignation from a chance at happiness is something Lucy is familiar with. Syd returns to her apartment to find that James has left, and he is avoiding her phone calls. Lucy and Syd meet again, and this time Lucy gives her the photographs that she took over their weekend together, and says that she wants Frame to use them. Syd is incomfortable with this idea, so Lucy also leaves photos of Greta before going back upstairs, where Greta accepts that their relationship is over, but implores Lucy to stay one more night. The ending came as a bit of a surprise to me the first time I saw it. The decisions that both characters make were predictable, but one took much more courage than the other.
Cholodenko shot "High Art" in a simple yet visually mesmerizing way that has a documentary feel. The camera is perpetually close to Lucy and Syd, maybe in symbolism to their relationship. There is a scene in which Syd comes home after doing drugs at Lucy's, and initiates sex with James. But she is pathetically wasted, and soon falls asleep. During this, the camera is much farther away than it is during the Syd/Lucy scene, which is quietly beautiful in it's unintrusive style and honest dialogue.
The script, a nice counterpart to the glorification of heroin chic, will be considered pretentious by some. Syd comments on the composition of some of Lucy's photos, and Lucy replies that it's been a long time since she has been deconstructed. I found the script to be so sufficient in character development, and observant, natural dialogue that I wasn't bothered by such exchanges. "High Art" can also boast some of the best acting of 1998. Clarkson steals every scene she is in, with a voice deeper than that of Garbo and the look of someone who has been lost in her own universe for years and has given up living. William Sage, as Arnie, a hanger-on who lounges around the apartment all day and into the night as to not miss out on the sharing of heroin and anything else he can get his hands on, gives a similarily strong, on-target performance.
Sheedy's work here is Oscar-caliber. As Lucy she is world weary and defiant, struggling to deal with the contrasts between the life she has known for the ten years since she dropped from public conscience and the sense of rediscovery that Syd has brought to her life. She wants to turn her life around, but at the same time is skeptical that it is possible. Telling her mother (played by Tammy Grimes), who is a rich old woman who can't believe that her daughter lives with a woman much less a "German" (which is all she refers to Greta as), that she has a love issue and a drug problem, or a drug issue and a love problem, you can see her gathering the strength to tell her mom about her drug addiction. But as soon as she does, her mother gets up and walks away, meeting her daughter's expectations. You can tell that this has happened time and again in their strained relationship.
Mitchell and Sheedy have chemistry, and Mitchell is convincing as Syd, movingly conveying her admiration for Lucy as it evolves from a crush to infatuation. She is engaged by being in the presence of such a gifted artist, and her need to be around that fits so perfectly with Lucy's own needs to be appreciated that in the end several interesting questions are posed, including how subjective Syd could ultimately be about Lucy's work because of their relationship and her own involvement with the photographs. Would Syd and Lucy have become involved if the art aspect was completely removed from the situation? See "High Art" and judge for yourself.
© 1999 Heather Picker
Review Courtesy of http://www.thatmoviesite.8m.com E-mail: Ahber16@aol.com
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