HIGH ART

One of the best lesbian films of the 1990s, High Art is an emotional, thought-provoking, wonderfully acted drama set in New York's downtown lofts and centering around a young (hitherto straight) woman's sexual interest in a slightly older woman.

Syd (Radha Michell) is a vanilla-flavoured, blonde-haired woman working as an intern at a high-powered magazine. But she's far from happy just quietly climbing the corporate ladder by day and living with her sweet boyfriend at night.

She finds both lesbianism and her ticket to fame in the person of Lucy Berliner. Lucy is a burnt-out, coupon-clipping, ex-photographer living a decadent, druggy life with Greta, a German actress wafting through life on a cloud of drugs, cigarette smoke and memories of her fast-paced life as a Fassbinder actress,

Syd's lesbian urges, supposedly dormant, are kicked into overdrive as she becomes entranced by the cool, thin Lucy. Their relationship spark's Lucy's creative juices and offers a career opportunity for Syd. The only losers are their exes.

A film that deserves to be seen twice, because director Lisa Cholodenko sends out mixed signals on what love is and what it can be. Is love the close bond between two people, insular from outside influences, or is it driven by economic forces?

An intriguing film which offers interesting ideas on the nature of love.