High Art

Theatrical Release Date: 1998 06 12 (USA)

UPC: 025192113628

Studio: Universal Studios

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Profanity, Substance Abuse, Sexual Situations]

Summary: Lisa Cholodenko wrote and directed this lesbian-themed drama, winner of the 1998 Sundance Film Festival's Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award. Ambitious photography magazine associate editor Syd (Radha Mitchell) has a ho-hum relationship with James (Gabriel Mann). Investigating a ceiling leak, she enters the apartment of her neighbor, retired photographer Lucy Berliner (Ally Sheedy), who lives with former Fassbinder actress Greta (Patricia Clarkson), a heroin addict. The friendship between the worldly Lucy and the naive, insecure Syd ripens into an affair, one destined to change the lives of both women. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

Category: Drama

Awards: Special Jury Prize – Deauville Film Festival Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award – Sundance Film Festival Best Actress – Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best First Feature – Independent Spirit Awards Best First Screenplay – Independent Spirit Awards Best Actress – Independent Spirit Awards Best Supporting Actress – Independent Spirit Awards Best Cinematography – Independent Spirit Awards Producers Award – Independent Spirit Awards Producers Award – Independent Spirit Awards Best Actress - Runner-up – Toronto Film Critics Association Best Actress – National Society of Film Critics Best Supporting Actress (Runner-up) – National Society of Film Critics

Features: Feature commentary with director Lisa Cholodenko
Theatrical trailer

High Art

Format: Digital Video Disc (DVD)

Release Date: 07/27/2004

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Theatre Wide-Screen

Audio: DS Dolby Surround (4.0), DDM2.0 Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono

Runtime: 103 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,French

Subtitles: English,French,Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1 --
1. Degraded (Main Titles) [4:59]
2. Vanity Is the Ugliest Quality [4:55]
3. A Chance Meeting [5:56]
4. What's in a Name? [4:13]
5. Photographic Ecstasy [7:42]
6. Fabulous Heroin [10:34]
7. Commercially Trapped [5:40]
8. In Bed With Lucy [9:05]
9. Come With Me [5:33]
10. At the Center of it All [3:22]
11. Don't Want to Be With You Like That [3:41]
12. Who's Serious Now? [8:32]
13. Love Problems [7:33]
14. No Context [3:21]
15. One of Us Has to Go [7:33]
16. It Doesn't Matter [2:47]
17. The New Issue [2:40]
18. End Titles [3:46]

Jason Clark

A rather draggy melodrama bolstered by some superb acting, Lisa Cholodenko's debut effort nevertheless has its finger on the pulse of the disaffected New York artist, and when High Art explores that walk of life, it is indelible. Ally Sheedy gives a fierce, subtly hypnotic performance in the lead role, her haunted expressions never before put to better use on the big screen. Her lesbian photographer character is anything but a stereotype, and Sheedy gives the role amazing reserves of feeling without resorting to unnecessary pathos. Radha Mitchell is rather wan as her chief love interest, but Patricia Clarkson is mordantly funny and surprisingly affecting as her German lover and drug-fiend pal. If High Art took itself a little less seriously, it might have been more involving as a whole, but Cholodenko has fashioned an interesting tale filled with recognizable truths about the nature of drug addiction and the uneasy effect it has on a community of artists. In an unforeseen comeback role, Sheedy raised quite a few eyebrows for her work here, no place more so than at the 1999 Independent Spirit Awards, where she surprisingly picked up the Best Actress trophy and gave a lengthy, profanity-laden speech about -- among other things -- her resurrection from straight-to-video fodder. ~ Jason Clark, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Dolly Hall  Producer 
Jeffrey Levy-Hinte  Producer 
Susan A. Stover  Producer 
Lisa Cholodenko  Director 
Lisa Cholodenko  Screenwriter 
Shudder to Think  Composer (Music Score) 
Ally Sheedy  Actor 
Radha Mitchell  Actor 
Patricia Clarkson  Actor 
Tammy Grimes  Actor 
Gabriel Mann  Actor 
Bill Sage  Actor 
Ahn Duong  Actor 
David Thornton  Actor 

Country: USA