Starring: Heath Ledger, Abbie Cornish, Geoffrey Rush, Tom Budge.
Candy is the emotional roller-coaster film based upon a poet and an artist who fall in love, both with each other and heroin. Split into three acts (heaven, earth and hell), we see the short lived triumphs and extreme downfalls that the couple live through; faced with withdrawals, marriage, deaths, tragically ending pregnancies and unreal heartbreak. This a story of true love, raw emotions and beautiful mediums of art.
As far as tales of drugs go, Candy has to be one of the most realistic films out there based upon a couple from working class backgrounds. We can see the honesty of the addiction at first which then leads them into the downfall of hope, love and everything they have. Being a couple with so much potential, it is legitimately painful to watch such a horrible disease take over them and you can fully sympathise with the parents.
Based on such a dark subject, having the cinematography, done by Gary Phillips, produced in beautiful pale, pastel shades, as if it was forever a late spring to early summer evening, was an extremely refreshing point of view.
Also linked in with the cinematography, the use of shot types to convey emotion and specifically the shot movements are superb. You would be able to feel the emotion in this film even if it was silent, just by the shot types.
However it is a good thing it isn't a silent film as Candy has an amazingly executed script. The literature that goes into this script is so beautifully and poetically written, that it gives the film a whole new level of character. When adding Heath Ledgers silky Australian accent to an already perfected script you can literally not go wrong.
To match the script is the soundtrack. The music by Paul Charlier, is so soft and gentle yet has such a destructive angle to it that it parallels the films theme so well. The song choice is almost choir-esque which makes it really feel like they're that far into their own world, just a little bit more.
The opening scene of this film for me was up there, as one of the best. It's opens with Candy (Abbie Cornish) and Dan (Heath Ledger) going into a round up ride and their friend Caspar (Geoffrey Rush) watching over them. The whole simplicity of the scene sets the tone for the entire film and I feel is strongly connected to the deeper meaning of Candy and Dan still being innocent, adolescents at heart and Caspar being their real father figure as he watches them on the ride.
I also feel like the ride itself symbolises the couples relationship, it is quite literally a carnival roller-coaster. They are a couple so in love with each other that it makes their head spin and when it gets too much and they want to get off... they can't. It makes them dizzy after but it's so fun at the time that they cannot care.
To top off the list of qualities needed to make a great film... the acting from all the characters, especially Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish, is highly incredible. Ledger being Ledger can take on any role given and this was no exception and then Cornish brought something really special to the film through her innocent appearance. They made you feel emotion that you probably never have before in a film and also made you feel as if you were part of the film at times.
The film had a, not happy, but bittersweet positive ending which was the perfect way to the end this film. You really needed for there to be some good in the lives of this couple but you're almost relieved that it's not the overly happy ending that is expected or the tragically worse ending that you were expecting. The ending really shows the depth of their love for each other and summaries the film perfectly.
Candy has been one of my favourite films for a couple of years now, everything that went into this film is executed perfectly. Although some may feel like it's a bit dull and there isn't much action going on throughout the film, if you're in the position where you can relate to any of the problems they are faced with, then you can truly appreciate the extent of this film.
