High Art (1998) User Reviews

This isn't a typical 'art-movie', just because it talks about an artist.

[philip_vanderveken · 8/10 · 2 August 2005]

A movie with a title like this one is bound to stay unknown and unpopular. Most people don't understand anything about modern art (I'm one of them) and certainly don't want to see a movie about its creation. But somehow I was curious about it, hoping that this movie would explain something about how it all works and that it would give me an insight in this unknown and isolated world.

Syd is the newly appointed assistant editor of Frame magazine, a magazine about art photography, who lives together with her boyfriend in an apartment. When there is a leak in their ceiling, she goes to the neighbors upstairs to complain. But what she didn't know is that this neighbor is no-one else than the talented and once famous photographer Lucy Berliner. Immediately she sees a nice opportunity to boost her career and starts hanging out more with Lucy and her junkie friends, who almost permanently seem to live in Lucy's apartment. She encourages Lucy to shoot new pictures for her magazine, but as they grow closer to each other, Syd's boyfriend becomes more and more jealous and Syd starts to fall in love with Lucy.

What I liked about this movie was that it was about a photographer, but that it never felt pretentious. Lucy felt like a normal woman and not like someone who thinks she is better, just because she is an artist. Also the contrast between Syd's relationship with the down-to-earth Lucy on one side and the pretentiousness of Lucy's drug using friends and the editors from Frame on the other, was refreshing. This isn't a movie that beautified the art world, this showed the hard reality. Take for instance the scene in which the head editors - who pretend to know all about photography - never have heard of Lucy Berliner, but don't want to admit that to their pears and therefor start lying or how they aren't interested in the art itself, but only in the money that it will earn for them as they publish it...

After I had seen this movie and already had decided what rating I would give it, I went to see on IMDb which rating this movie actually received from others. It struck me that most men seem to hate this movie, while almost all women seem to like it. Perhaps it is because those men hoped to see more of the lesbian relationship between the women (including a steaming sex scene), perhaps it was because they believed this was an 'art movie' (which in reality it isn't). Anyway, I'm a man too, but I liked what I saw. I found the contrasts in the story, the delicate love story,... and especially the ending all very interesting and moving. That's why I give this movie at least a 7.5/10.

Superb.

[Quag7 · 8/10 · 8 January 2004]

Caught off-guard by this film. The subject matter ordinarily wouldn't interest me but I was transfixed from the beginning by the intensity of the acting. I honestly didn't think I'd be able to connect with or care about the characters, but I did.

This is simply a solidly acted, solidy directed, solidly written film. Subdued yet unpretentious or excessively melodramatic, the effort put into this by all involved is commendable. 8 out of 10.

Enjoyable and Uncomfortable

[anapier02 · 8/10 · 26 February 2005]

I just re-watched High Art on the IFC the other night. The last time I saw it I was not as "seasoned" as I am now. I was just blown completely away by the complexities of all the characters. I mean there are so many subtexts within this movie that it made it more than your typical wanna be artsy lesbian movie. Even without the lesbian factor, I still love this movie. Patricia Clarkson's Greta is such a great character. It still blows my mind. I mean this story is not just about love but the idea of being surrounded by the worst parts of you and having such an ambivalent reaction to it.(STOP, SPOILER, INFERRING CLIMAX) Amazing. Re-watching this movie made me ask myself, "Does changing yourself for the better really mean you have to die? One way or the other?" Wow, I'm sorry if you're reading this and wondering what the hell I am talking about. I just really love this movie. It is such an enjoyable, uncomfortable movie to watch.

a picture is worth 1,000 words

[lee_eisenberg · 7/10 · 22 April 2006]

It seemed like Ally Sheedy hadn't done much since "The Breakfast Club" when she starred in "High Art", and she does a pretty good job here as photographer Lucy Berliner, who becomes involved with neighbor Syd (Radha Mitchell), and they both start reevaluating their lives.

I'll admit that this isn't the ultimate masterpiece or anything, but it is worth seeing as a look into the art world. These sorts of movies just go to show why indie flicks are more interesting than anything that Hollywood can conceive. Lisa Cholodenko followed it up with the perplexing, but also worth seeing, "Laurel Canyon". Also starring Patricia Clarkson and Tammy Grimes.

Beautifully sad

[MikeK-7 · 6/10 · 30 June 1999]

Ally Sheedy hasn't been this good since THE BREAKFAST CLUB, and newcommer Radha Mitchell is also excellent. The photography is so.....raw yet at the same time elegant. The Academy was too chicken to give this any awards, luckily it did well at the Independent Film Festival.

These performances deserve recognition

[kinkling · 10/10 · 5 January 1999]

None of the characters in this film are the stereotypes you might expect, and a few of the performances are simply magnificent. Patricia Clarkson in particular probably won't be an Oscar contender, but certainly should be. The two leads are also played to perfection, and I enjoyed the film far more than I had anticipated. Definitely should not have been relegated to the art-house circuit.

A hothouse flower of a movie

[moonspinner55 · 6/10 · 23 October 2005]

Hard, tough, occasionally dream-like drama involving a drug-abusing lesbian photographer who's currently on "hiatus"; lured back into the professional world by a pretty art-magazine gopher, she finds herself in the middle of an affair. Emotionally intense movie is sharp and focused, though hurt by a puzzling finish. Ally Sheedy's award-winning performance as the shutterbug is one of her finest. It took a long time for Sheedy to reach the point where she could appear in a film like this and not seem out of place; her acting is getting more refined with age, and her brave turn here appears to put her juvenile romps (like, say, "Short Circuit") to bed. Radha Mitchell is also very good as the post-teen who falls for her. Gripping, moving film. **1/2 from ****

Sweet Women And An Impressive Lesbian Theme Movie.

[avirariva · 10/10 · 17 May 2015]

High Art is a 1998 Canadian-American independent film directed by Lisa Cholodenko and starring Ally Sheedy and Radha Mitchell.

Plot of the movie: Sydney (or simply "Syd"), age 24, is a woman who has her whole life mapped out in front of her. Living with longtime boyfriend James, and working her way up at the respected high-art photography magazine Frame, Syd has desires and frustrations that seem typical and manageable. But when a crack in her ceiling springs a leak and Syd finds herself knocking on the door of her upstairs neighbor, a chance meeting suddenly takes her on a new path.

Opening the door to an uncharted world for Syd is Lucy Berliner, a renowned photographer, enchanting, elusive, and curiously retired. Now 40, Lucy lives with her once glamorous, heroin-addicted German girlfriend Greta, and plays host to a collection of hard-living party kids. Syd is fascinated by Lucy and becomes drawn into the center of Lucy's strangely alluring life upstairs.

Syd mentions Lucy to her bosses (without realising that she is famous) but they remain uninterested until they realise exactly who Lucy is. At a lunch, Lucy agrees to work for the magazine as long as Syd is her editor. Soon a working relationship develops between the two and a project is underway which promises a second chance for Lucy's career. But as Syd and Lucy's collaboration draws them closer together, their working relationship turns sexual and the lines between love and professionalism suddenly blur. As Syd slowly discovers the darker truths of Lucy's life on the edge, she is forced to confront her own hunger for recognition and the uncertain rewards of public esteem.

Sweet women and an impressive lesbian theme movie.

My tape missed the ending...help

[dgiVista · 7/10 · 13 January 2007]

My tape ran out and missed the end of the movie.

I saw up until Syd goes outside and sees that guy in Lucy's car and he wouldn't at first open the door.

What happens after that? thanks!

beyond that i liked the movie. it had a mild eroticism that wasn't trashy. it was pretentious and i've read quite a bit--while looking for an explanation of the ending--about how it's pretentious and i'm thinking yes. it is pretentious because it's about high art. pretentious people judging other pretentious people and in the midst of it people trying to have real fulfilling lives.

the reality is that pretense can screw up a chance at real connections.

truth!

a negative review

[heckles · 1/10 · 10 February 1999]

One previous reviewer called this film "pure visual joy" I am wondering if s/he saw the same film that I did. "High Art" had to have the most relentlessly depressing interiors since "Seven". One can almost forgive Sheedy and Mitchell for the cliché of going to a B&B for their First Time. Of course, before they do that, one has to watch opium-den parties inhabited by people who are not apparently gainfully employed but can somehow support a flourishing drug habit. Not to mention the icy stares from those familiar movie types, the Girlfriend/Boyfriend At Start, who are well aware they're going to be thrown over sometime in the next 100 minutes or so. The movie also states that the Sheedy character has retired from professional photography for ten years now. What did she do, retire at age twenty?

Outstanding yet incredibly tragic

[psos · 10/10 · 9 September 1999]

I truly regret never having seen this movie before......

This film (for me) is one of the best films I have even seen. It left me with a true feeling of being on an emotional roller coaster: the obvious "high" of love, ambition, hope; the low of manipulation, betrayal, conceit, desperation, unfulfilled expectations. From movie start to end, the emotions portrayed by Lucy, Syd, Greta, Arnie, et al., felt incredibly real.

I felt swept into the middle of the experiences those "characters" felt. The movie proves that love (as well as life in general) has beautifully positive and chillingly negative connotations: it can be a supremely powerful drug, beautiful, giving, but yet be used as tool of manipulation and power. The ending, although obvious (not in an unfortunate way - there really could only be one realistic ending), was tragic. When you see Arnie in Lucy's mom's car, you knew what was coming out of his mouth before he said it.

Hearing him say it made my heart sink. The dread, despondency, and hopelessness I felt at that moment still lingers today; four days after seeing this movie on HBO. The only piece of art work that left me with an equal feeling of dread was Aquilles' lamentation at the end of the "Illiad". That book is one of my favorites, as this movie is now. The last point I wanted to make is that the subtly of the soundtrack (particularly during the scenes of incredible human interaction such as the last car scene) made this movie work; "She Might Be Waking Up" is a hauntingly superb song.

I thank all of the persons on the screen (Ally Sheedy, Radha Mitchell, Patricia Clarkson, etc.) (and off - Lisa Cholodenko, Shudder to Think, etc.) for breathing life into this drama and for presenting to all of us those facets of human life that makes us the frailest creatures on this Earth. Thank you HBO for showing this truly outstanding piece of work on the small screen.

Great story, but poor direction

[movieman-187 · 7/10 · 9 August 2000]

After watching this film, I am struck by the grace and beauty of the story and the terrific acting. However, as I watch the film, certain directorial problems become painfully prevalent. For instance, there are many unnecessary camera movements and the camera always seems to be at the same eye-level angle. Maybe this is to add a sense of a documentary to the movie, but even if it is, it gets old fast. All of the acting in the film is top notch! The script is very interesting and gives a unique angle and edge on an old topic. There were also several places that I thought needed more depth, but those are post-decisions that I don't have all the facts on. If you like independent film, then check this movie out. 6/10

The Worst Movie of 1998

[Freddy-12 · 1/10 · 23 March 1999]

I was never so bored in my life. Hours of pretentious, self-obsessed heroin-addicted basket cases lounging around whining about their problems. It's like watching lizards molt. Even the sex scenes will induce a serious case of narcolepsy. If you have insomnia, rent this.

Superbly subtle.

[Doctor_Bombay · 25 March 1999]

In 'the age of indies', where we currently find ourselves, a common technique is to heavy hand the viewer, scaring him with the harsh realities of some off-beat lifestyle.

And all those possibilities exist in High Art, where the real grunge of lower Manhattan is briefly exposed, yet here, the filmmaker chooses to seduce us with it, rather than hit us over the head.

Ally Sheedy does a good job as druggie social misfit, Lucy Berliner. Lucy's been able to lead a life devoid of any traditional responsibility, choosing instead to hang out with a sub-culture of drug motivated homosexual and asexual miscreants, where days and years pass by faster than a paper calendar unfurling in a Frank Capra movie.

That she might jump start a promising career as a photographer under the bright-eyed prodding of young Syd (Radha Mitchell) is not surprising, it's a familiar refrain. And that Lucy seduces Syd is also predictable.

Where the movie does surprise is the relaxed way in which it delivers it's message, and, although Sheedy and Mitchell are both very good, for my money the movie is damn near stolen by Patricia Clarkson, who is brilliant in every scene she plays. If you remember her as Ted Hoffman's caring, intelligent wife in year one of 'Murder One' you'll really appreciate what a marvelous actress she is.

I came in expecting to dislike the movie, and left quite pleased. I definitely recommend.

Tough going, but well made, insightful and deserving of appreciation

[blue hermit · 7/10 · 25 October 2001]

Ally Sheedy is in the cast list of "High Art". Like me, a lot of couch potatoes would probably think: " Oh, that's the girl who was in that movie about the cute robot." True, "Short Circuit" (1986) was fun to watch, but this is a very different story. It is also a far cry from "Buried Alive 2" (1997), which I remember cured my insomnia one night. I suppose HA is what is called an "art house movie". It strikes me that one look at a synopsis of the script would have most distributors feeling in need of a drink. (I could be wrong of course!). This is a rather bleak tale of friendship and lesbian love, arising out of a chance encounter between an assistant photo editor and a long lost art photographer in the building where they live.

Initially, I started watching this one one morning for the sake of something to do while a work crew was relaying the floors in my kitchen and bathroom, so the soundtrack was punctuated by a certain amount of unscripted percussion. I quickly realized I was getting interested. There is stuff in HA for people to dislike if they are so minded. Hard nosed types could say there are too many losers in it to be worth bothering with. Someone with strong religious convictions could feel distaste at its perceived decadence. Drug takers, failed talents, useless men and the spiritually lost can all be found in this movie. I reckon Lisa Cholodenko's film is an audio - visual think piece rather than an entertainment. This whole thing smacks of deep personal commitment from its director. I notice she also has the writing credit.

The mature and rather gaunt Ally Sheedy in this movie is excellent as "Lucy Berliner", the once famous photographer who vanished to Germany years ago and has since returned to self - imposed obscurity. She is truly believable as the character on screen. Radha Mitchell is "Syd", the assistant editor at Frame Magazine. Actually, she is a little wooden at times. I think she puts in a much more assured performance in the recent, exciting sci- fi outing "Pitch Black" (2000). I recognized the names of Patricia Clarkson and Tammy Grimes among the supporting players in HA. Nice to see people getting work. HA also offers the pleasure of watching the seldom seen actress, Anh Duong. As "Dominique Podhue", her striking looks steal the attention in some scenes. I agree with her character's assessment of the photos too.

I think "High Art" on release must have been tough going for the audiences who got the chance to see it. I got my copy in the small hours via a VCR and a cable channel. It certainly hasn't been seen much in the UK. This aside, it is well made, insightful and deserving of appreciation

Quite good

[Skylark-4 · 7/10 · 21 February 2000]

I liked this film. Syd is a really compelling character, and well acted.

But I felt that Lucy's fate at the end of the movie was flawed -- it seemed to me that it "came out of nowhere," and therefore it wasn't as moving as it could have been. Am I the only one who felt this way?

Romance between two woman who struggle what they want from their lifes and they are faced with big decisions, but they find happiness and their answers in each others arms...

[estenada · 10/10 · 5 January 2006]

This is probably one of the nicest romance between two woman I have ever seen and how it evolved gradually, and its very sweet.it touched my heart, and I already watched it 3 times and it did not bore me. The Director gave us so many details about the two and that makes you get into more in the story ,altough at the end it kinda destructed everything as if I was not watching the same movie...like someone changed the DVD or something...It could have had a better ending. ... In general I also liked how the characters addressed each other (Lucy's Mum to Greta The German, Greta to Syd The Chick with the leak etc). It is real life when you do not like someone you call them by a degradable name sort of. I also liked the problem/issue Lucy was referring to with her mum... "I have a Drug problem, and a love issue, or maybe I have a love problem and a drug issue...". While watching this film I found a lot of situations in which I was common with the characters.. Maybe that is also why I loved this film..

Slow burning

[howie73 · 7/10 · 27 March 2005]

Radah Mitchell is excellent as the lead character, Syd, in this slow-burning and at times pretentious art-house drama set in the trendy Manhattan arts scene in the late 1990s. The film's personality is introverted; each character is self-obsessed and hard to care for; although Syd is the only one we feel has developed as a person. Sheedy's character is tortured and vague and it's hard to sympathize as a result. The film is a bit too long for its own good but it has many rewards in terms of the performances of Sheedy and Mitchell. Unfortunately, the tone is depressing and stagnant for most of the time and it's hard to keep involved. This is the kind of film cultural studies students would study and pretend to enjoy.

Taken In Context: Flawless

[matthewwright · 10/10 · 30 August 2004]

Just my opinion:

Most of the Actors in High Art have narrow ranges, but that doesn't make them "bad" actors, just limited to a range of motion (like a great distance runner who is a lousy sprinter). It takes a patient and focused Director to recognize what that kind of actor can do in the right setting. Most Directors seem to steam roller through their vision of the script and force actors to conform to an abstract idea (they make the poor sprinter sprint anyway instead of giving them a long quiet run to excel at). High Art isn't about Ally Sheedy showing she's an unappreciated powerhouse, it's about Director Lisa Cholodenko giving Ally the room and role to do the kind of acting she's never been allowed to do. Fellow "distance runner/lousy sprinter" Radha Mitchell is also perfectly placed in every scene. These two are the narrower players, they're like bold colors you can't use to excess and can't water down without ruining the whole painting. Then like a good painter Cholodenko does bring in a powerhouse in someone like Patricia Clarkson. Unlike Sheedy and Mitchell, Clarkson is spread thin and applied liberally. And I don't mean screen time. Clarkson's pull on the plot between Sheedy and Mitchell makes their specialized boldness stand out. It gives them weight and dissolves into itself. The painting analogies are cheesy, but that's what the grace of this film is to me. Clarkson is definitely a deeper actor than Sheedy or Mitchell, but instead of upstaging them her role in this film elevates them. If you were to paint two small but boldly colored flowers on a canvas you would need a more universal, softer backdrop to make the two flowers take form (in a realistic painting at least). This movie is not about a plotline, not really. Like a painting it suggests something with a seemingly straight ahead depiction of, well: drugs and sexual awakenings, career ambition, disillusionment that follows great success. It's flawless to me because it only suggests these things and does not offer any conclusions. It just is. High Art.

Interesting, but a bit slow.

[gromit-14 · 6/10 · 18 May 1999]

This was not a terrible film, but I'm not sure it deserves all the raves it received. The acting is fine, and the story not bad, but it is very slow and languorous. I never wanted to turn it off, but it did not grip me. My favourite line: "I'm hot, isn't that serious?"

Vapid Predictability & Beautiful light

[Uptown · 2/10 · 13 January 1999]

Great lighting, good editing and lovely stills not supported by a cast of boring, ultra-shallow (Sheedy alone excepted), ever-predictable people. I longed to see all of them drop dead- sadly, only two do. If you LOVE Fassbinder, you'll love this film.

Not About Art but Dependency

[gbheron · 9/10 · 8 January 2000]

High Art is an absorbing study of dependency, both chemical and emotional. Sheedy plays Lucy Berliner, a famed photographer who hasn't published in ten years. She's whiled away the years living in New York with her German girlfriend, both heroin addicts. Not the strung-out mainlining Panic in Needle Park types, but more refined; they toot more than they shoot.

Along comes a young assistant editor of an art magazine who first wants to advance her career by cajoling Lucy to begin working again, and later falls in love with her.

The movie shines in its matter-of-fact treatment of living and loving among New York's new Bohemians. Well worth the rental, and I hope this signals Sheedy's return to film...she's great.

Three great performances

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 3 July 2015]

Syd (Radha Mitchell) is an assistant editor at Frame magazine. She lives with her boyfriend James (Gabriel Mann). There's a leak from their ceiling. She goes upstairs to her neighbor Lucy Berliner (Ally Sheedy) who is doing drugs with her girlfriend Greta (Patricia Clarkson) and others. Lucy is a photographer and Syd proposes to use her work. Ten years ago, Lucy had a mental breakdown. As soon as the magazine realizes who Lucy is, they become eager to use her but she insists on Syd as her editor. Greta falls deeper into drugs and Syd falls for Lucy.

Ally Sheedy makes a great reintroduction. For many who hasn't seen her since her Brat Pack days, her gaunt look and her depths are both shocking. Along with Radha and Patricia Clarkson, the three ladies give outstanding performances of mature and complex characters. The connection between Radha and Ally Sheedy is both delicate and powerful.

High, but not so mighty

[peterquincy · 4/10 · 10 November 2004]

"High Art" is a film that suffers too much from clichés. The cliché of drug addicts being losers, the cliché of young go-getters stepping on people to get where they want to go, the cliché of lesbians being promiscuous. This film suffered from a woeful lack of character development, as well. Other than taking drugs, the characters didn't really share anything in common or have much of a life outside their apartments. I didn't believe for a minute that Syd and Lucy could seriously have feelings for each other. That said, I think the acting was quite good by everyone in the cast. Of course, not good enough to rescue this film. A good idea gone bad, and good talent wasted.