INNOCENCE ---------
Five decades ago, Andreas (Charles Tingwell) and Claire (Julia Blake) shared a passionate romance in Belgium, following World War II, then went their separate ways. Now, a half-century later, they discover that they live in the same Australian city and it soon becomes evident that their love of so long ago has not faded. Although Andreas is a widower, Claire is still married and is torn between her loyalty to husband John (Terry Norris) and the passion she feels for her former lover in "Innocence."
LAURA:
When widower Andreas (Charles 'Bud' Tingwell, "The Castle") discovers his first love resides in the same Australian city, he writes Claire (Julia Blake, "Hotel de Love") a sentimental letter, begging for a meeting. Claire, married for forty-five years to John (Terry Norris, husband of costar Julia Blake), guiltily meets Andreas for dinner, but states that while it was nice seeing him, there's no reason to stir up old feelings. But Andreas persists in pitching woo and Claire finds herself falling in love again in "Innocence."
Writer/director Paul Cox, who explored middle-aged romance in "Lonely Hearts" and dying with dignity in "A Woman's Tale," combines those themes in this septuagenarian love story. Claire, whose marriage has been sexless for twenty years, initially opts for keeping the current peace. When Andreas is asked to be present at the disinterment of his wife's grave, he asks Claire to come for moral support. She's so moved by his distress and his appeal to stay the night with him, that she decides to celebrate life. Claire also decides that she's too old to lie.
John, a man who hasn't voiced his true feelings in decades, is dumbstruck by his wife's confession of infidelity. He calls in their son David (Robert Menzies), a doctor, hoping for a physical or mental analysis that will explain things. He tries to physically restrain Claire from going out, then tries to woo her back. His delighted surprise at hearing her tell an off-color joke is both touching in the depth of feeling Norris brings to the scene and telling in how little he really knows the woman he's spent most of his life with. Norris gives a powerful and layered performance.
The film belongs to Julia Blake, however, a truly beautiful woman who glows in her rediscovered love. Blake conveys the heartbreak of breaking another's heart while simultaneously expressing the joy of living to the fullest. Tingwell makes Andreas the more Bohemian, worldly choice next to the staid John, but his performance has just a touch of self congratulation about it. Claire tells Andreas, whose strict father came between them all those years ago, that she doesn't think he fought hard enough for her then and Tingwell's portray of Andreas keeps him slightly suspect the second time around.
Cox has written some beautiful dialogue, from reflections on the definition of a memory to Andreas' humorous baiting of a hospital chaplain, although he occasionally meanders into overt melodrama. Reflections are featured visually
throughout the film as well, from flashbacks of the young lovers seen in the windows of a passing train to Claire's peering into a mirror (where her younger self dissolves into her present). Overall, however, the film has the look of a British TV production.
"Innocence" stumbles occasionally, but it's refreshing to see senior citizens treated as sexual beings with needs and desires and the ability to light up a room with their presence. You may never see your grandparents in quite the same light again.
B-
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