PAUL COX

Bil’s rating (out of 5):   BBB.5

Australia, 1986.  The Australian Film Commission, Dofine Productions, Film Victoria.  Screenplay by Paul Cox, Bob Ellis, Norman Kaye, Morris Lurie.  Cinematography by Yuri Sokol.  Produced by Jane Ballantyne, Paul Cox.  Production Design by Asher Bilu.  Costume Design by Aphrodite Kondos.  Film Editing by Tim Lewis.  

Isabelle Huppert shines in this understated drama by Australia’s greatest filmmaker next to Peter Weir, Paul Cox. She plays a French tourist staying with friends in the land Down Under who is severely injured after a car accident.  She loses sight in one eye, and is told that the sight in the other will go as well unless she has surgery to remove the damaged one.

While deciding what she wants to do, she befriends a blind man and has a romance with him, a relationship that pushes her towards an eventual decision.

Told with very little fanfare, this tale of a very sad experience is photographed in bright, lush colours that display the world that Huppert is constantly threatening to lose if she doesn’t make up her mind. Cox directs with delicate grace, and gets a fiercely subtle performance from his leading lady.

Toronto International Film Festival:  1986