High Art

A film by Lisa Cholodenko (USA, 1998),

with Ally Sheedy, Radha Mitchell, Patricia Clarkson, Bill Sage, Gabriel Mann, Anh Duong.

Winner of the 1998 Deauville Film Festival Jury Prize and the 1998 Sundance Film Festival Screenplay Prize.

Syd is a young idealistic assistant editor with a glamour photography magazine who can't wait to gain social and professional recognition and wouldn't mind making coffee until then. But things go much faster as expected when she meets with her neighbour, Lucy, an ambiguous formerly-renowned photographer...

High Art is a very seductive film: fashion, glamour, photography, art, ambition, power, High Art has it all. It's glossy and attractive... but also kind of fake! In spite of Ally Sheedy's outstanding acting, the film is disappointing as the characters remain overall superficial. A lot of details could have been especially developed around Syd's character such as her relationship with her boyfriend and above all her very attraction to Lucy. Also we are hardly convinced by Radha "Syd" Mitchell's performance. Eventually, the whole story is more or less predictable and the approach relatively hackneyed. While the end is quite brilliantly sharp though, we can't help noticing, however, that the choice of the final stills is slightly demagogic as they're not as amazing as they're meant to be, at least not technically speaking... But of course, the topic only is probably enough to make them stand out. Too bad...

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