“High” Art

Well, let me begin by setting up the reason for a post on this film. I watched High Art around the year 1998 or 99, shortly after it was released. If you were to ask me what I though about the film before my most recent viewing, I would stare at you struggling to remember something beyond “Ally Sheedy was in it.” That really bothers me, not because I couldn’t remember details, I couldn’t even remember if I liked the film or not. So, when my wife and I sat down the other night flipping through channels, lo and behold High Art was showing on IFC. My wife has a much better memory than I do, so her goal was to not be stuck watching a film of my choosing, while my goal was to remember anything at all about the film.

After approximately 15 minutes, the film came flooding back to me. I also discovered the reason I was having a hard time remembering it in the first place. I like to call this phenomena the “drug haze” factor. No not my drug haze, but the film’s. If you are not familiar with the film, I need to give you a brief rundown of the main plot elements so that my factor can be investigated in more detail.

The story revolves around Syd (Radha Mitchell) meeting a famous recluse photographer Lucy Berliner that has been absent from the art scene for about 10 years. Syd lives below Lucy in an apartment complex with her boyfriend and happens upon Lucy’s apartment when her ceiling begins to leak. Needless to say, Lucy’s apartment is filled with the stereotypical heroin art crowd, including a previously famous German actress Greta (Patricia Clarkson), who we find out is Lucy’s lover. What makes this chance encounter even more meaningful is that Syd is an assistant editor to a high profile art magazine Frame. Moving along and summing up quickly, Syd falls in with the crowd and falls in love with Lucy, who returns the sentiment. Greta is upset, mostly because she has lost her heroin partner. Syd gets Lucy another chance to enter the art mainstream by getting her a cover shoot with Frame. Lucy decides this is an opportunity to get back in the swing of things and eventually tries to stop using heroin. Syd see this as an opportunity to do something important for the art world, her career, and her love life. The ending of the film is twofold; one part is the culmination of Syd and Lucy’s love in Syd becoming the subject matter for Lucy’s cover and the other part is the consequences of Lucy’s fight with drugs.

Obviously I could go into a discussion about the presentation of alternative love, but I want to venture back to the “drug haze” factor. The film is filled with drug use, and even filmed in such a way that the camera has a trippy quality, moving slower and awkwardly at times. The characters also demonstrate the effects of drugs quite well, capturing the feel of heroin. The effect that this has results in a blurry quality once the film is over. You grasp the story and conflicts, yet you are left with a murky cohesiveness. I believe this is what led to me forgetting the film, I became a part of the “drug haze.” Actually, this is a good quality to have in a film when dealing with drug use. For example, I have the same reaction when watching a film like Trainspotting or any Cheech and Chong film. High Art takes this effect and uses it to create an aura around the film that allows the viewer access to the experience.

I did like this film, but found that the stereotyping tended to detract from my association with the characters. The male characters (really only 3 of prominence) are cardboard cutouts with little depth, and even the female characters only sporadically move to a deeper level. Syd and Lucy almost become a parody of the roles they play, which may be due to the film being created in 1998. Overall, there are important discussions that come out of High Art. For example, the treatment of drug abuse and fame, love, and the emergence of a feminine discourse. This film is by no means a lipstick treatment of lesbianism, but at the same time it goes out of its way to push issues related to the lesbian relations of Syd, Lucy, and Greta (plus a few others).