Candy

I recently purchased Candy on DVD from Amazon, along with my eagerly anticipated copy of the How to Be soundtrack. Candy, starring Health Ledger and Abbie Cornish is based on the novel of the same name by Luke Davies - which I read. The book is quite a bit more graphic, but the film is pretty true to the plot.

The description on the back of the DVD is as follows:

Oscar nominee Health Ledger stars as Dan, a charming but reckless young poet who has fallen in love with Candy (Abbie Cornish), a beautiful young art student from a comfortable middle-class family who is attracted to the bohemian lifestyle that Dan has long since embraced. In order to get closer to Dan, Candy, whose previous drug use has been casually experimental, starts shooting up. Their passionate relationship then alternates between bursts of ecstatic oblivion and bouts of despair and self-destruction. Hooked as much on heroin as one another, their story becomes a love triangle – a boy, a girl, and a drug.

I watched the movie, in its entirety for the first time on youtube.com and became an immediate fan (hence the DVD purchase).

My favorite scene is probably the first one - the opening scene - when Candy and Dan are together in the "tilt-a-whirl-like-ride" and so obviously enamored with each other. Ahhh, young love!

There are comedic moments in the first half-hour or so, but for the most part the movie is quite depressing, albeit easy to get drawn into. Abbie Cornish does an amazing job – her portrayal of Candy is so convincing with all of the heartache, despair and false hope. Towards the end her character becomes almost completely mad, and I believe every word out of her mouth. I just love her in this film.

Candy is beautifully acted, deeply and emotionally charged and painfully heartbreaking. Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish most certainly make an attractive couple on-screen, but their destructive life together makes it hard for the viewer to want their love to survive.

I'm sure the tragedy of the film - for me - seems all the more painful in light of Ledger's untimely death. I can't help but be sad that Dan, the Joker, Gabriel, Jimmy, Patrick, Ennis, Skip and Casanova all died with Ledger in January of 2008.

Of all his roles, Dan was a favorite. Heath was gifted at portraying a tortured soul.

Candy was released by TH!NKFilm on DVD in 2007.