lisa cholodenko 's " high art ,
" is an intelligent , quiet drama .
its strongest quality , aside from the top - notch central performances , is the perceptive way in which the film , also written by cholodenko , observes its characters .
they are all flawed people , some more troubled than others , but they are not judged .
judging the characters in this picture would be a creative misstep on the filmmakers ' parts , because no one , no matter how bad off they are , deserve to be negatively judged if they are involved in some serious problems that they can not break free of .
syd ( radha mitchell ) , a 24-year - old woman living with her longtime boyfriend james ( gabriel mann ) , has recently been awarded an ideal job at the high - profile photography magazine , " frame .
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she very much enjoys where her career is headed , but is often not taken very seriously by her managers , who are always giving her petty jobs to do , when she knows she could be doing more important things .
one night , while taking a bath , syd notices a leak coming from the apartment above hers , so when she goes up there to inform them of it , she meets lucy beliner ( ally sheedy ) , a thin , worn - out , and unhappy woman , who lives with her drug - addicted german girlfriend , greta ( patricia clarkson ) , a pathetic former actress who is usually so out - of - it that she often is in and out of conciousness .
syd quickly strikes up a conversation with lucy , and discovers that she used to be an acclaimed photographer ten years before .
lucy claims she does n't want to get back into the profession , but syd manages to convince the " frame " editors to do a piece on her work .
all the while , syd begins to grow deep feelings for lucy , even though she has never previously been attracted to a woman , and lucy starts a battle with her personal demons . " high art , " is such an effective motion picture because it is never suger - coated or idealized , but instead an honest and convincing portrait of a handful of unhappy people whose lives are going nowhere , while syd 's luck begins to rise .
the film in no way is about lesbianism , but about love , which was a refreshing change of pace from the usual stereotypical portraits of homosexuality .
as lucy and syd grow closer and closer together , we really do believe that they are falling in love with each other , even if the relationship might be doomed .
with this picture , ally sheedy 's star has risen once again , thanks to her touching , nearly flawless portrtayal of lucy , a woman who , in the course of a decade , has found her life consumed almost entirely by drugs , which has taken away her once - blossoming career .
her characted really is tragic , and one particular scene involving lucy and her mother , in which lucy admits to her that she has a drug problem , and her mother matter - of - factly responds by saying she ca n't help her , is heartbreaking .
although not autobiographical , sheedy has had drug problems in her past , and i suspect she brought that knowledge of already being in lucy 's footsteps to her role .
also very good is radha mitchell as syd , who previously starred in the slight 1997 australian comedy , " love and other catastrophes ,
" wh caught me by surprise with her performance .
easily being able to pass as christina ricci 's older sister , mitchell obtains the same natural charisma that has made ricci so popular recently .
as accurate as almost
every detail is in , " high art , " i wish the relationship had been more tightly written involving syd and james , who , played by gabriel mann , is left with a throwaway role .
by the time he finds out about syd and lucy , he disappears from the film , and i wish there had been another scene where they confronted each other .
this is a very minor fault , however , in a film that is full of riches .
although many of the characters are stuck in a hopeless pit of despair , syd and lucy are intelligent people who recognize their problems .
the character of dominique ( anh duong ) , the " frame " editor who decides to give syd a chance with her ideas , was also written to be far more mature than expected .
and the one sex scene in the film was beautifully and originally done .
for once , it did not invlove steaminess , or violent sexual activity , or gratuitous nudity , but focused on the actual characters , who love each other , and their insecurities involved in making the decision to actually have sex . " high art , " which won the screenwriting award at the 1998 sundance film festival , marks the superior feature film debut of cholodenko , as well as sheedy 's strongest , and best , role to date .
Output: P