MovieChat Forums > High Art (1998) Discussion > I am confused (spoiler don't read unless...

I am confused (spoiler don't read unless you want to know the end)


You know how your sitting alone enjoying a film? Then someone walks in. Though they are of normal intellegence they start talking to you as if the movie is not on and your not watching it. Well that happened to me at the end of High Art. If anyone got to see the end would you answer a few questions?

How did Lucy die? Did Gretchen die as well? Was it the drugs? I feel like I have a real disconnect at the end of this one.

Thank you in advance.

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I think I will look for it again. Thank you for filling me in again. I loved the movie.

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The drugs that Lucy gives to Greta at the end were the same drugs Greta took earlier in the movie when she almost died in the bathtub. In the scene where Lucy is in the car with Syd, she says something about getting rid of them, but she never does.

So when she gives the drugs to Greta at the end, she does it intentionally because she knows she needs to finalize things with Greta. Then she also takes some a few minutes later when she realizes that it's still not going to help the situation and ends things for herself. So I guess you can assume Greta and Lucy both die at the end because it's a bad batch.

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Thank you for responding

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This is such an excellent film. I am determined to find it at the video store and watch it again.

I am also going to rent the same director's new film Laurel Canyon. I think this has been released to DVD already.

Back to High Art. When I described the acting in this film I just kept thinking "The Breakfast Club this isn't." I was so impressed with the acting in this film.

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I saw the interesting discussion about the way the movie ended and thought I would chip in my two cents worth. The way I saw that was that Syd was actually looking back at herself! She saw the reflection of how she was when she first started out, all hopeful and ambitious like the receptionist was. However, by the end of the movie, she is obviously not.

I think in the end, after Lucy's death, Syd saw how fake everything was. I think she finally understood the earlier conversation that she and Lucy had about cracking up and leaving it all at the peak of her fame. Syd stepping out the door was the same and looking back at the receptionist, I feel, was a reflection of her old self.

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I just watched the movie late last night on cable.

I saw more in the final look between the two. I saw a real contrast between Syd and the intern. Syd was the intern but with ambition. And the journey she has just been on changed her life.

To me the look said to things; From the intern "I know where your going but I don't understand why". From Syd "You will never know what I become"

Just a thought.

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My first exposure to Patricia Clarkson was in "High Art" - and imagine my astonishment when I found out that she WASN'T German but an American actress! She's now my favorite living actress :-)

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I couldn't agree with you more.. What else Greta can do? It was typical passive-aggressive behavior.

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Well, a couple of months later this fine film has been shown on Channel 4 in the UK in the middle of the night, so I watched it on video. But with the luxury of being able to rewind to see the crucial moments again...

i) I didn't have to rewind to be convinced that Greta's "bad drugs/suicide attempt overdose" in the bath was a big fake - it was obviously so even on a first viewing. So it is kind of academic whether or not these are the same batch of drugs that later kill Lucy, or not.

ii) Nevertheless, it is psychologically interesting that Lucy only *pretends* to throw the drugs out of the car to convince Syd that she can go straight. The whole sequence is beautifully choreographed - a sudden jerk of the arm to look like a throw, followed by the arm extended straight out of the car window as if holding stuff waiting to drop it, then finally a "winding it in" motion when Lucy decides to hold on to it after all.

iii) Lucy's death is probably attritutable to no more than the illusion that after coming off drugs for a while that you can carry on at the same level as before. Lucy snorts one line, hestitates, then snorts another (a huge fat one incidentally and Greta only did one...). In normal circumstances, not an overdose - after going straight for a while, who knows?

iv) I think the receptionist at the end is just being snotty without knowing how evil she is really being: "Oh hey, the issue came back" means any (or all) of "Didn't know *you* were a lesbian", "This is the issue you had to *beep* the photographer for" or "Mmm, nice tits"

John L

PS And how "L Word" is it? I know LC wrote one episode, but even the basic plot is the same, plus the art world setting. Looks like a major inspiration to me.

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Here
I have Laurel Canyon in my hot little hand right now but alas I am too tired to watch now. I will fill you in as soon as I watch it.

If you like Patricia Clarkson watch for reruns of the first season of the show Murder One. She was soo good in that. Also there is a strange little movie that I loved called Far From Heaven. It was made to resemble the 50's melodramas. In particular the ones with strong female roles(for the time of course). PC was in that and did a fine job.

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Here, This movie was not quite as good as high art. I am going to write more about it under the LC thread.

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"You know how your sitting alone enjoying a film? Then someone walks in. Though they are of normal intellegence they start talking to you as if the movie is not on and your not watching it. Well that happened to me at the end of High Art."

The same exact thing happened to me the other night. I'm trying to watch this movie and a bunch of drunk people show up at my house and they're being LOUD during the part where Syd finds out Lucy died. I was so annoyed. And the first time I rented this movie my mother returned it before I even got a chance to watch it. But I digress. I really liked this movie too and I thought the discussion here was interesting. I saw the ending in the same way others did- with the secretary being attracted to Syd. I think the other viewpoints make a lot of sense too though.

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I didn't think Lucy intentionally OD'd, she had a lot to live for, she finally worked up the nerve to separate herself from Greta, and she had Syd waiting for her. Why would she want to die? It was stupid to take the drugs after going away for a week to clean herself up, but I don't think it was suicide. I also think the receptionist has a crush on Syd.

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I agree that I don't think Lucy intentionally OD'd. As someone with that kind of past I can tell you two things:
1. After cleaning up it's always a crap shoot in terms of tolerance how your body is going to react to the drugs. Lots of people have OD'd because they were relapsing and took what may have been a normal amount in the past but was too much after cleaning up.
2. The lure of any drug, but especially heroin is so very, very strong. Also, she was probably feeling pressured and I think it seemed to her like she would get high with Greta one last time for old time's sake. Another mistake many junkies make.
That transition state between past and future, when you're making changes but aren't quite there yet. The situation with her mother was weighing on her as well.
When I first saw the movie I felt pissed, because she had only been clean a week, point #1 above, seemed invoked here for moral reasons. I felt that it's almost too much to allow characters to change in movies when they have certain kinds of pasts. However, I realize the tragic nature of the situation and am more comfortable now with the ending.

A good movie and interesting to see Greta in Good Morning, Good Night.....

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i still have one big question... why all lesbian films must end with a sad ending...i never saw on with a appy eding or so... its like always sad romance between 2 wman...dunno my opinion.

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i don't know either why it always has to end so sad...i was really shocked! the movie left me with so many questions...thanks to you guys discussing here i got at least some plausible answers :)!

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Yes, I feel like talking about it all time with someone who appreciated this great art of film making... Everythign was almost perfect ,only the ending ! It left me speechless and lost all the sense of the film.

wiebke - held did you see high art recently??

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estenada,
i actually watched it just one day ago. the end kinda spoiled the whole movie for me, because it just left me with such a sad feeling about the whole movie. i am just wondering how syd will go on after lucy's death. there are just too many questions left...at least in my opinion. nonetheless i think it's a great movie, but on the other hand i think i should have never watched it, because of the ending.

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yes i agree 100% but still it was worth it seeing them together..ally sheedy is so *beep* hot !!should we make high art 2 and we revive her back...maybe arnie was lying lol like greta was in the bath tub to seperate the two...we never got to see Lucy dead or her funeral so whoknows...loads of questions

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You ever think she NEVER died? She told her mom that she was leaving the city because of a problem/issues. She left once and, according to the editor, "screwed people who helped her." Perhaps she was doing it again? Just food for thought.

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when i was watching as soon as i saw her do that line, i thought, "oh no she's going to die."

in my opinion she was about to break someone who she still loved's heart and she couldn't take that pain. so she went for the number, the drug to help her deal with the situation since she was essentially in love with syd now and wanted to be with her, but saw that greta needed her. she just didn't know how to stop herself and so she took too much and od'ed.

i didn't think greta staged the od, i think she took more to take the edge off lucy about to cheat on her and just took too much.

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It's best not to be too moral you cheat yourself out of too much life.

If Lucy lived I don't think she could leave Greta even though she was in love with Lucy. Greta became a responsibility to her and I don't think she would have the heart to let her go!

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