High Art

Rating:
Summary: Sometimes opportunity knocks on the door both ways
Review:

The trailer for "High Art" says this 1998 film from writer-director Lisa Cholodenko is about "ambition, seduction, sacrifice and other career moves," which is a particularly bad way to sell the film. Syd (Radha Mitchell) has just been made an associate editor at a New York photo magazine, although it is not clear why she got the job let alone whether the title means anything more than glorified intern. One night she is taking a bath when she notices water is coming through her ceiling. She goes upstairs and knocks on the door of the apartment above the one she shares with her boyfriend, James (Gabriel Mann), and enters a whole new world.

The apartment belongs to Lucy Berliner (Ally Sheedy) and the place is basically a heroin den. The walls are covered with photographs and eventually we learn that Lucy was once a well-known photographer. But now her life is an endless circle of drugs, love making with her lover, Greta (Patricia Clarkson), and fairly brutal visits with her mother (Tammy Grimes). The photographs all speak to Lucy's obsession with Greta, a former German actress who made films with Fassbinder, and who is so out of it she falls asleep all the time, not only in restaurants but in the middle of Lucy making love to her. Syd thinks that Lucy's photographs might help her make a name for herself at her magazine, and she has no idea how right she is when she brings in a book of Lucy's photographs to her boss (David Thornton) and the magazine's editor (Anh Duong).

Lucy agrees, but with the stipulation that Syd will be her editor and it becomes clear that the older photographer is considering the young wannabe editor as new muse. While Lucy's motivations are clear, Syd's are a jumbled confusion of personal and professional feelings. Is she exploring her sexuality with Lucy or exploiting it to get ahead at work? But then we understand that Syd is not simply a new plaything for Lucy, but a chance to abandon the lethargy of her existence and start living again, which only serves to up the ante of their encounters. The problem is that Greta is bound to her life in so many ways that this is a risky proposition at best and if the situations depicted are beyond our reality the ending of this film is not.

Sheedy and Mitchell provided solid performances as the key players, with Clarkson underplaying the human sinkhole that is Greta's heroin addict. However, this is a sense of detachment in the film because of Cholodenko's decision to do the sex scenes without graphic nudity. In fact, most of the love scenes involve the characters keeping their clothes on to the point that the line the director has drawn for her actresses becomes obvious and something of a distraction. This is not to say that nudity is necessary for sensuality to be portrayed on screen, but simply that avoiding it so rigorously works against those scenes in "High Art."


Rating:
Summary: Brillant
Review: A truly excellent film - a tragic story beautifully told. Ally Sheedy has never been better. I was mesmerized by the accuracy by which the world of addiction/drugs and the world of women loving women were portrayed. This is a deep movie worthy of a doctoral thesis.

Rating:
Summary: Among the best lesbian stories
Review: After watching this movie (not an ordinary love story) I did have an attitude adjustments. An excellent story about falling in love and walking on the edge. I could not stop thinking about this movie for days after I watched it....

Rating:
Summary: SEXY!!!!
Review: High Art has got to be one of the best films I've seen, at least in a long, long while. I say that because it is so finely paced, so intricate in its rhythms and moods, that it has the quality of real life, or perhaps more aptly, a real dream. Between the music and the color of the sets, and the relaxed, subtle acting which fits right in with both, Cholodenko creates a world apart, and the viewer is drawn in like a lover in an entryway.

High Art tells the story of an aspiring assistant editor at a photography magazine who by chance meets a brilliant photographer (Lucy), who, after much acclaim years earlier, has stopped being active in her art. The editor, Syd, is entranced by Lucy's nonchalant affect, the aura of her apartment, the steady stream of friends coming in and out, and most importantly, her photography. In turn, Lucy is attracted to Syd for her drive, her ambition, and her uncharted youth. Their mutual attraction rocks the drug-filled boat that is Lucy's flat, and a new love, and a resurgence of Lucy's art, is born. Whether they are allowed to thrive is up to Lucy, her long-time lover Greta, and all the other hangers-on.

The characters here don't feel like characters so much as real people who can make mistakes, who can try starting over, but who might have to deal with fate, (not to mention old habits and barely functioning relationships), along the way.

Ally Sheedy's performance here is truly amazing, mainly because it ends up not feeling like a performance at all. She plays each emotion with subtlety and depth and her timing and moods are right on the money, time after time. Rhada Mitchell is right there with her, giving a deeply moving performance as the young woman who sheds light on the shadowed Lucy only to question her reasons for doing so.

Gabriel Mann makes a welcome appearance as Syd's boyfriend, James. His James is the right mix of attractive, caring boyfriend, yet somehow dimmer counterpart to the magnetic Lucy. He may love Syd, but he can live without her. Lucy's pull is stronger, she needs Syd more. And the love she offers is real.

I give this movie five stars. Does well with multiple viewings, so a good one to own. Recommended for those who are old enough to not confuse the drug use in the film for glamour. Just the opposite.

Rating:
Summary: Lesbians,Love,Art,Drugs&Fate
Review: High Art in my opppinion is the most honest and intriging lesbian film made to this date.It throws "morals" out the window and shows you what life is really all about.After a strange and acward meeting when Sdy(Radha Mitchell) goes upstairs to ask her neighbor(Ally Sheedy) about a leak.It's a great look at how someone can just sneak into your heart and take over.There is one point in the movie when they do finally have sex and it is the most honest and inocenct sex scene i have ever seen when sdy(Radha Mitchell) tells Lucy (Ally Sheedy) she has no clue what to do.Anyone Gay or straight can relate to this movie and it's honest look at life,love,drugs,and fate.So i give this movie,the actors,and director a perfect 10!!

Rating:
Summary: The film strives to be an art form in itself
Review: I guess I've been culturally deprived. I never heard of Ally Sheedy before. I understand she was once part of a brat pack and did very different roles than this, but I have no other frame of reference. Anyway, in this ambitious modern tale, she plays the part of a lesbian photographer who's into drugs. She lives with her heroin-addicted girlfriend and has prematurely given up a promising career. They hang out in their seedy apartment doing drugs with a variety of other people and that seems to be the sum total of their lives. In the apartment below lives a young professional woman, Radha Mitchell, and her boyfriend. When there is a leak from the apartment above, the young woman goes upstairs and meets the photographer and her assorted friends. She works as an assistant editor for a photography magazine and is immediately drawn into the art of the photos as well as an attraction for Ally Sheedy and drugs.

One of the things I liked most about this video is what I thought of as its authenticity. There are several sex scenes that have the feel of real people in bed. If anything, they were so real that they went on a little too long but the reality of attraction, shyness, conversation, and exploration deepened the characterizations of the people involved. Perhaps this is the intention of the screenwriter, the long and lingering views of the relationship. There were also long and lingering views of drug taking and again I felt they were a little too much. The film though seemed to be trying to be an art form in itself and although the two star's performances were excellent, some of the minor characters just didn't quite seem real, such as Ally Sheedy's mother or the druggie girlfriend. The mood of the video is melancholy, the pace slow, the acting uneven. But for what it was, I enjoyed it.

Rating:
Summary: Brillant
Review: I was totaly blown away by this movie. Its about love, attraction, love, art, and why we do what we do. Radha Mitchell plays Syd, an assistant-editor-more-like-slave-girl at a high fashion photo magazine. Ally Sheedy plays the recluse genius upstairs. When a bathroom leak unites them it starts a whirlwind of love, attraction, and eventually great art. Throw in a narcotic addicted german girl, a job that treats you like dirt, narcotics, and a woman discovering herself and you get High Art. I loved Radha Mitchell but I was put off slightly by Ally Sheedy's abrasive character. Patricia Clarkson, the german girlfriend of the genius, we could have done without.

I love this movie not just for its great acting but by the way they show Syd as the hard working, innocent girl who gets pushed down by her peers at the magazine. Ally Sheedy as Lucy gives me something to think about. Great movie, esp. if you're in to photography. It's not just for lesbians, guys will love this movie too :)

Rating:
Summary: Brillant
Review: If you don't get depressed watching people ruin their lives doing drugs then maybe you will like this movie. Ally Sheedy's acting is great but the content left me cold.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!! a must have...!!
Review: One fantastic and real movie.

I am not going to explain the content of the film since the previous reviewers did an excellent job; I must only say that this film is essential in your DVD collection and it will be in your thoughts for a long time.

Far away from a Hollywood Love movie, this film captures the essence of the relationships based in opportunities, ambition and manipulation. Which brings the question, what will you do for getting what you want?.


Rating:
Summary: 'I haven't been deconstructed in a long time.'
Review: Syd (Radha Mitchell) is the assistant editor at the photography magazine Frame. Unfortunately, in spite of a recent promotion, her co-workers still expect her to fetch them coffee and sandwiches. One evening, Syd discovers, by pure accident, that famous photographer, Lucy Berliner (Ally Sheedy) lives in the same apartment building with her German girlfriend, former Fassbinder actress Greta (Patricia Clarkson). Lucy Berliner is a legend in the photography world--notoriously difficult to work with, Lucy just disappeared from the professional photography scene years ago while at the pinnacle of her success. Lucy is attracted to Syd,and this causes a great deal of pressure within Lucy and Greta's relationship. Greta sees Syd as a threat, but she also senses that Syd is a sycophant. Lucy is surrounded by human parasites of one sort or another. There's a constant party in Lucy's apartment--she's the one with the money and the supplies, and Lucy's relentless inflexible mother supports Lucy and her lifestyle.

Syd is ambitious, focused, and extremely directed. She persuades her boss to give Lucy a spread in Frame magazine. The magazine stands to benefit for reviving the once-famous Berliner, Syd stands to gain some respect and improved standing with her co-workers, but Lucy, who dropped out of the photography scene years ago ... what does she stand to gain?

'High Art' is a subtle examination of how we use people to get what we want in life. Everyone in the film is a people-user. There's Syd, she's the low person on the totem pole, so her co-workers use her, but now she has a chance to move up. In order to do that, she has to exploit her relationship with Lucy. All Lucy's friends and acquaintances use Lucy--she has the apartment and the money her circle of friends don't have. Lucy uses her mother, and Greta uses Lucy. It's hard to imagine the languid Greta sticking around if Lucy didn't keep her well supplied. But the most interesting relationship here is between Syd and Lucy, and there's definitely mutual use going on here. Just how far is Syd willing to go to persuade Lucy Berliner to submit material to Frame?

The film 'High Art' makes me think of Jean-Paul Sartre's statement that all relationships are predicated on use. How true that is, and this film exemplifies that. The casting is superb. It's great to see Ally Sheedy--former teen darling of the 80s in this role. She's fantastic. 'High Art' is my favourite film by director, Lisa Cholodenko, and it's wonderful to see this exceptional film on DVD. I also recommend buying the incredible, unusual soundtrack (music by Shudder to Think)--displacedhuman