I rewatched the 1998 indie film High Art (directed by Lisa Cholodenko), I hadn’t seen it since I was a teen. I remembered it being a big deal back then, as a more mainstream LGBTQ indie film, a brief comeback for Ally Sheedy that won her awards, Radha Mitchell’s early notable film role (where I was surprised to see how young and baby-faced she was when seeing it now), and Patricia Clarkson’s breakthrough as a German artist addicted to heroin. I still like it a lot, even if it now very much feels like a movie of its time, it’s very “late 90s indie film,” I don’t know how to better describe it.
I do like that watching it now, I can better see it as a movie about two women using each other in selfish ways. Radha Mitchell’s character Syd is an immature young intern turned editor trying to get a leg up in the art world by connecting with a once-great art photographer, Lucy, played by Ally Sheedy, who is talented but unreliable because she doesn’t want her art world fame anymore. They get into this relationship with each other that seems mutually beneficial but isn’t healthy at the same time. Lucy is trying to leave her toxic relationship with Clarkson’s character Greta because they are both dealing with substance abuse, and Syd is more of the innocent nice girl type that Lucy is using as a way out. I did like how it was messy and how everyone’s an asshole while their actions can be understandable to a degree.
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