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Amazon.co.uk Review
80’s offbeat heroine Ally Sheedy co-stars with indie queen Patricia Clarkson and Neighbours star-done-good Radha Mitchell in this intense, character-led drama. The story is realistic and heartfelt. Director Lisa Cholodenko manages to carry this drug-fueled classic independent film with bravado and honesty.--Jen Kilchenmann
DVD Description
A landmark in independent and gay filmmaking, Lisa Cholodenko's High Art is a superbly constructed drama which charts the tempestuous romantic entanglements between three women. Fourty-year-old photographer, Lucy (Ally Sheedy, in an award-winning performance) and her German girlfriend Greta (Patricia Clarkson, revelatory in a heartbreaking role) are embroiled in a drug-fueled affair. When Lucy's downstairs' neighbour, the seemingly innocent 24-year-old Syd (Radha Mitchell) enters into their lives, their world changes forever. Lucy is re-awakened by Syd who offers her the hope of escaping her world. Before Syd realises it, she is drawn into Lucy's seductive and dangerous mix while forced to make choices she never imagined. A challenging film that raises interesting questions as to how objective a person can be about art, especially when they are involved in the creative process.
High Art paints a startlingly real picture of the nature of an all-consuming bond between women, and the effect the haze of drugs and scourge of infidelity can have on that connection. A cinematic triumph that transcends any simple 'lesbian' tag.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
There is a theory about 'feel good' films and homosexuals. There was a time when lesbians were always violent psychopaths, as portrayed in 'The Killing of Sister George' - and then people decided that they would make happy-happy films about women who were completely okay with their sexualities despite the disapproval of others. Examples are Better than Chocolate, The incredible adventure of two girls in love. And then, people started to realise that such films were totally removed from reality and did not embrace the fact that not all lesbians/gay men are totally happy. This may have nothing to do with their sexuality, but there is some external force that is making them depressed. In the case of High Art, Lucy, one of the central characters is depressed because her girlfriend is a crackhead and her job in the professional art world is wearing her down mentally. The story has nothing to do with lesbians being strange, messed up creatures - but deals, quite maturely, with people who happen to be lesbians in a tight situation. I think there is often a lot of confusion about the difference between a film such as 'The Killing of Sister George' which is blatantly about victimisation, and High Art which is a bona fide tragedy in itself. Cholodenko has made a superb movie about a delicate and doomed relationship which is shot beautifully, has a lot of artistic and intellectual integrity - and is believable. Lucy and Syd's relationship is never properly consummated because Lucy decides that she doesn't care anymore. Syd's first time with a woman is not washed with yellow light, because it is understood that your first time, however old you are, can be a nerve racking experience.
I think the star of the film is 'Greta', Lucy's drug-ridden girlfriend who is the most original antagonist I've seen; Irreverent, larger than life and supremely talented. There is no hope tacked on the end of this film, other than the success of Lucy's photo shoot - which is why I found it so different and enjoyable. It is a challenge, firstly, to those who only want to see Lesbians in happy, or at least redeeming films, and secondly, to those who are thinking of making budget films themselves; the director's commentary is very helpful.
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I couldn't be more excited to finally see High Art on DVD. This is in my book THE best lesbian movie out there. So good that it transcends audiences. Forget Loving Annabelle, Better Than Chocolate or The L Word, High Art beats the lot hands down.
If you are lucky enough to have not seen it yet, you are in for a VERY special treat. Apart from Itty Bitty Titty Committee it's been a while since a great storyline and awesome acting has graced our sapphic hearts!
And yes that is the indie queen Patricia Clarkson as Greta!
Just awesome - i cannot recommend this film enough!
If you are lucky enough to have not seen it yet, you are in for a VERY special treat. Apart from Itty Bitty Titty Committee it's been a while since a great storyline and awesome acting has graced our sapphic hearts!
And yes that is the indie queen Patricia Clarkson as Greta!
Just awesome - i cannot recommend this film enough!
24 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:VHS Tape
High Art
Who would have thought that The Breakfast Club and Neighbours would ever meet in celluloid?
Ally Sheedy, never the coolest person in the 80's, and Radha Mitchell, star of Love and Other Catastrophes and Neighbours (!) meet when Lucy's (Sheedy) bath leaks into Syd's (Mitchell) flat. In the great film world of chance both live with the photographic image and while Lucy admits that she 'hasn't been deconstructed for years' the audience are compelled to look for meaning the whole way through.
Don't think that this film is just another girl meets girl love story because it isn't. It's about obsession, ambition, desire and being given the chance to try out being someone new. If this film were a book it would come from the pen of Jeannette Winterson, the mind of William Bouroughs and the heart of an early John Irving.
This film is darker than Bound and not as pretentious as Go Fish. It reaches into the pit of your stomach and the piercing noise that opens the film stays until the closing credits. It's a noise like a small broken heart hiding behind the sofa and as the narrative shoots to its inevitable conclusion your heart vibrates in your chest.
This film works not because the camera created a perfect 'deviant' underworld (of sexuality, drugs, hedonism and apathy) or because the characters were tied in sexual tension, not even because Sheedy and Mitchell filled their roles perfectly. No this film works because the story doesn't glamorise the characters' faults. It inspires you to take pictures and look out for high art.....
Greta, who 'lives for Lucy', is the perfect femme fatale. Destructive, self possessed and unable to function without a constant supply of drugs she acts as the measurement of Syd's respectability and drive. Indeed as the film progresses Syd becomes the reason Lucy finds her passion and manages to take tentative steps away from her onetime muse. In Greta we see Betty (Betty Blue) a doomed and frenetic lover who acts as a catalyst in the films narrative.
Like the film noir this film hides behind shadows and uses a very simplistic notion of darkness and light to show the characters feelings. On a light box everything is clear, even if not perfect. Lucy takes her pictures to tell a powerful story and in the end that's what we want to hold on to. An intense account of a chance meeting and a story that seems only half told.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
over rated
After a promising start I just became bored , a Nan Goldin style photographer fancies her neighbour and takes too many drugs . Read more
Published 6 months ago by cartoon
Disfunction Masterclass
An interesting film demonstrating varying degrees of alienation amongst a disparate group of people. How this group came together and stayed together is a mystery . Read more
Published on 31 Mar 2010 by J. Gould
Well shot, well acted and surprising for its subject matter
this is a well shot, well written and on the whole, beautifully acted film. it is by far the best film i have watched where the main characters are lesbians. Read more
Published on 18 Nov 2009 by J. Dixon
Very intense!
A great cast giving good performances, particularly Patricia Clarkson. The characters are, in general, well developed, but the ending too abrupt. Read more
Published on 13 Oct 2009 by A. Bellerby
Bleak
have never written a review for a film before but I was so moved by High Art that I felt compelled to.
I was moved to DESPAIR. What an utterly bleak, sad, terrible film. Read more
I was moved to DESPAIR. What an utterly bleak, sad, terrible film. Read more
Published on 6 Sep 2009 by Ruby Quinn
Bleak
I have never written a review for a film before but I was so moved by High Art that I felt compelled to.
I was moved to DESPAIR. What an utterly bleak, sad, terrible film. Read more
I was moved to DESPAIR. What an utterly bleak, sad, terrible film. Read more
Published on 6 Sep 2009 by Ruby Quinn
Patricia Clarkson WOW !
I cannot recommended this film more highly.You will want to watch this time and time again.Ally Sheedy and Patricia Clarkson are both absolutely amazing. Read more
Published on 25 Aug 2009 by Alex
a work of art
Quite simply High Art is a stunning piece of cinema. It has a fascinating and compelling storyline, is brilliantly shot and directed, and features some outstanding acting by Radha... Read more
Published on 15 July 2009 by Al Orange
Wonderful, wonderful film
A marvelous film. Beautiful in the real connection between people. To me it doesn't matter that it's lesbian love. Read more
Published on 24 Jan 2008 by Simon Turner
Who is using who?
Well I didn't particularly like this film. One can't really understand who is using who. It seemed to me sort of a Lesbian trio with only pain, confusion and drugs.
Published on 3 Oct 2007 by Acquafortis
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