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HIGH ART/FILM

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High Art

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This article is about the film. For the general use of the term, see High culture.

High Art
Promotional poster
Directed byLisa Cholodenko
Written byLisa Cholodenko
Produced byJeff Levy-HinteSusan A. StoverDolly Hall
StarringAlly SheedyRadha MitchellGabriel MannPatricia ClarksonBill SageAnh DuongDavid ThorntonTammy Grimes
CinematographyTami Reiker
Edited byAmy E. Duddleston
Music byShudder to Think
Production
companies		391 ProductionsAntidote Films
Distributed byOctober Films (United States)Odeon Films (Canada)
Release datesJanuary 21, 1998 (Sundance)June 12, 1998 (United States)
Running time101 minutes
CountriesUnited StatesCanada
LanguageEnglish
Box office$2 million[1]

High Art is a 1998 independent romantic drama written and directed by Lisa Cholodenko, and starring Ally Sheedy and Radha Mitchell. It premiered at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award, and saw a limited release in the United States on June 12, 1998.

The film received positive reviews from critics, with particular praise for Sheedy’s performance, which earned several accolades, including the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress and the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress.

Synopsis

Sydney (or simply “Syd”), age 24, is a woman who has her whole life mapped out in front of her. Living with longtime boyfriend James, and working her way up at the respected high-art photography magazine Frame, Syd has desires and frustrations that seem typical and manageable. But when a crack in her ceiling springs a leak and Syd finds herself knocking on the door of her upstairs neighbor, a chance meeting suddenly takes her on a new path.

Opening the door to an uncharted world for Syd is Lucy Berliner, a renowned photographer, enchanting, elusive, and curiously retired. Now 40, Lucy lives with her once glamorous, heroin-addicted German girlfriend Greta, and plays host to a collection of hard-living party kids. Syd is fascinated by Lucy and becomes drawn into the center of Lucy’s strangely alluring life upstairs.

Syd mentions Lucy to her bosses (without realising that she is famous) but they remain uninterested until they realise exactly who Lucy is. At a lunch, Lucy agrees to work for the magazine as long as Syd is her editor. Soon a working relationship develops between the two and a project is underway which promises a second chance for Lucy’s career. But as Syd and Lucy’s collaboration draws them closer together, their working relationship turns sexual and the lines between love and professionalism suddenly blur. As Syd slowly discovers the darker truths of Lucy’s life on the edge, she is forced to confront her own hunger for recognition and the uncertain rewards of public esteem.

Cast

Production notes

The photography by Lucy Berliner (Sheedy) was based on Nan Goldin‘s work. The photographs were made by Jojo Whilden.[2]

Reception

Release

The film premiered at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival to rave reviews.[3] A 4K restoration was released in April 2025.[4]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 78%, based on 51 reviews, and an average rating of 6.8/10.[5] The site’s critics consensus reads, “A surprisingly sultry performance from Ally Sheedy elevates High Art from pretentious melodrama to compelling—if still a little pretentious—romance.”[5] On Metacritic, High Art has a score of 73 based on 17 reviews, indicating “generally favorable” reviews.[6]

Film critic Roger Ebert praised the film as “masterful”, noting “High Art is so perceptive and mature it makes similar films seem flippant. The performances are on just the right note, scene after scene, for what needs to be done.”[7]

Emanuel Levy of Variety wrote, “The beauty of Cholodenko’s writing is that she etches the evolving friendship, and the transformation of the two women, step by step, without any cheating,” and that she “painstakingly dissects the culture of heroin chic and its implications.”[8] Of Sheedy, Levy wrote after years of “’80s teen-angst movies, [she] shakes up her old screen image entirely and emerges as a mature, highly disciplined actress.”[8] Levy noted “Clarkson excels in portraying an aging, disenchanted actress, desperately clinging to Lucy – and to drugs”, and singled out Mitchell as the film’s “real revelation”, saying “her scenes with Sheedy are so truthfully touching.”[8]

Janet Maslin of The New York Times praised the performances, but said the ending is one of “contrived inevitability.”[9]

IndieWire listed it as #7 of The 15 Greatest Lesbian Movies of All Time.[10] In 2022, Autostraddle listed it as #58 of The 200 Best Lesbian Movies of All Time.[11]

Awards and nominations

AwardCategoryNominee(s)ResultRef.
Boston Society of Film Critics AwardsBest Supporting ActressPatricia ClarksonNominated[12]
Best ActressAlly SheedyNominated
Cannes Film FestivalGolden CameraLisa CholodenkoNominated[13]
Chicago Film Critics Association AwardsBest ActressAlly SheedyNominated[14]
Chlotrudis AwardsBest MovieNominated[15]
Best ActressAlly SheedyNominated
Best Supporting ActressPatricia ClarksonNominated
Best DirectorLisa CholodenkoNominated
Deauville Film FestivalJury Special PrizeWon[16]
Grand Special PrizeNominated
14th Independent Spirit AwardsBest Female LeadAlly SheedyWon[17]
Producers AwardSusan A. StoverWon
Best First FeatureLisa Cholodenko, Dolly Hall, Jeffrey Kusama-Hinte, Susan A. StoverNominated
Best CinematographyTami ReikerNominated
Best Supporting FemalePatricia ClarksonNominated
Best First ScreenplayLisa CholodenkoNominated
GLAAD Media AwardsOutstanding Film (Limited Release)Won[18]
Gotham Independent Film AwardsBreakthrough DirectorLisa CholodenkoNominated[19]
Los Angeles Film Critics Association AwardsBest ActressAlly SheedyWon[20]
National Society of Film Critics AwardsBest ActressWon[21]
Best Supporting ActressPatricia ClarksonNominated
Stockholm Film FestivalBronze HorseLisa CholodenkoNominated[14]
Sundance Film FestivalWaldo Salt Screenwriting AwardWon[22]
Grand Jury Prize – DramaticNominated
Valladolid International Film FestivalGolden SpikeNominated[14]

See also

References

  1. “High Art”. Box Office Mojo. IMDbPro. Archived from the original on October 7, 2024. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  2. Von Busack, Richard (June 18–24, 1998). “Cold Dish of Careerism”. Metro Silicon Valley. Metro Publishing Inc. Archived from the original on October 7, 2024. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  3. Tatara, Paul (June 26, 1998). “Review: ‘High Art’ clever, but low on ambition”. CNN. Archived from the original on March 30, 2023. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  4. Bergeson, Samantha (February 8, 2025). “‘High Art’ 4K Trailer: Patricia Clarkson and Radha Mitchell’s Indie Sleaze Romance Gets Stunning Restoration — Watch”. IndieWire. Retrieved May 31, 2025.
  5. “High Art”. Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Archived from the original on October 7, 2024. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  6. “High Art”. Metacritic. Fandom. Archived from the original on October 7, 2024. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  7. Ebert, Roger (July 3, 1998). “High Art Movie Review & Film Summary”. Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on October 7, 2024. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  8. Levy, Emanuel (January 27, 1998). “High Art”. Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on October 7, 2024. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  9. Maslin, Janet (June 12, 1998). “FILM REVIEW; Jaded Artist and Ingenue In an Arty Spider Web”. The New York Times. p. 12. Archived from the original on October 7, 2024. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  10. Dry, Jude (May 8, 2017). “The 15 Greatest Lesbian Movies of All Time, Ranked”. IndieWire. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on May 7, 2018. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  11. Burnett Gregory, Drew (July 16, 2024). “The 100 Best Lesbian Movies Of All Time”. Autostraddle. The Excitant Group, LLC. Archived from the original on October 7, 2024. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  12. “Boston Society of Film Critics Awards 1998”. FilmAffinity. Archived from the original on October 7, 2024. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  13. Cowan, Noah (December 7, 2012). “Summer 1998: Cannes Film Festival Roundup”. Filmmaker. The Gotham Film & Media Institute. Archived from the original on October 7, 2024. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  14. “High Art (1998) Awards & Festivals”. MUBI. Archived from the original on October 7, 2024. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  15. “1999, 5th Annual Awards”. Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film. December 28, 2017. Archived from the original on October 7, 2024. Retrieved October 7, 2024.
  16. “History – 1998, 24th edition”. Festival du Cinéma Américain de Deauville. Archived from the original on October 8, 2024. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
  17. Hernandez, Eugene (January 8, 1999). “”Affliction” Tops Spirit Award Nominations; “Monster,” “Art,” and “Sex” Also Nab Numerous Nods”. IndieWire. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on October 8, 2024. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
  18. “10th Annual GLAAD Media Awards Come to a Record-Breaking Close in Washington, DC”. Queer Resources Directory. GLAAD. May 9, 1999. Archived from the original on October 8, 2024. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
  19. “1998 Gotham Independent Film Awards”. Gotham Awards. Archived from the original on February 21, 2017. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
  20. “L.A. Film Critics Salute ‘Saving Private Ryan'”. Chicago Tribune. December 14, 1998. Archived from the original on October 8, 2024. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
  21. “Past Awards”. National Society of Film Critics. December 19, 2009. Archived from the original on October 8, 2024. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
  22. “1998 Sundance Film Festival”. Sundance Institute. Archived from the original on October 8, 2024. Retrieved October 8, 2024.

External links

vteWorks directed by Lisa Cholodenko
vteGLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Film – Limited Release

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