 The
third installment of the comic book saga hits Australian screens this
week. All of the main cast are back for more.
Candy, a beautiful young
painter (ABBIE CORNISH), is in the first throes of love with Dan, a
sometime-poet (HEATH LEDGER). Their love intoxicates, like Paradise,
like Eden: they care only for its increase, for the abandonment to
pleasure. In heroin they find the limitlessness they are seeking. Their
future together is invincible.
Soon the lovers have nothing left to hock. So Candy sells her body. Dan
lets her, and imperceptibly they cross a boundary on the way out of
Paradise. As the grip of their habit grows they renew their lover’s
vows through marriage. Their big day passes in a drug-induced haze of
bliss. Candy’s parents (TONY MARTIN & NONI HAZLEHURST) are
bewildered. They watch their daughter slide into something they agonise
over but cannot name.
As the days and nights roll on, Candy and Dan’s addiction becomes
inseparable from their commitment to each other. They are ensnared in a
lover’s double bind. Their beloved Casper, junkie professor, wayward
mentor and exuberant host, watches them with clear-eyed vision. But his
knowledge is bittersweet. Casper is the most sophisticated drug buddy
you could imagine: he is also an addict.
As the marriage spirals, so does Candy’s mind. Her rage at their
dream-gone-bad drives a wedge between the lovers. She surrenders to the
chaos and goes into rehab. Separation is humbling for Dan. Apart from
everything he loves, he gains a newfound clarity. He understands that
Candy, like him, has been granted a reprieve.
Rating: MA15+
cast
Heath Ledger, Abbie Cornish, Geoffrey Rush, Tony Martin, Noni Hazlehurst
Director Neil Armfield
Distributor Dendy |
