Charles Tingwell and Julia Blake in "Innocence."

MOVIE INFORMATION

With 10 as a must-see, Jack gives this film a: Stars: Charles Tingwell and Julia Blake Director: Paul Cox Rated: Unrated Length: 94 minutes

ROCHESTERCRITIQUE

Having seen this film, how would you rate it? 10 5 9 4 8 3 7 2 6 1

By Jack Garner
Democrat and Chronicle

(November 2, 2001) -- The timelessness of love is perfectly expressed in Innocence, Paul Cox's humane story of rekindled romance among the elderly.

Charles Tingwell and Julia Blake co-star as Andreas and Claire, two 70-ish folks who meet 45 years after they first fell in love -- and fall in love all over again.

It's a romance fraught with obstacles -- Andreas is seriously ill and Claire is married.

But the passion is overpowering.

The writer-director establishes the romance in both the present and the past (through flashbacks) and explores the complications caused by family members and friends, especially by Claire's incredulous husband, John (Terry Norris).

The performances are unaffected, mature and lovely.

Innocence is a tale without villains: a portrait of everyday people, caught up in unexpected emotions near the end of their lives.

As a character says, "Love becomes more real and fulfilling the closer you come to death."

And, as he always does, Cox tells his story with a naturalness that eschews false sentimentality and embraces fly-on-the-wall realism.

Cox previously demonstrated an affinity for the cares and concerns of the elderly in his eloquent drama, A Woman's Tale, the story of an infirm 78-year-old woman's last days.

Since he emerged from the Australian cinema 25 year ago, the Dutch-born Cox has been among the cinema's most distinctive and uncompromising mavericks, simply because he cares more about the people who populate his films than about box office.

In such films as Lonely Hearts, Man of Flowers and Cactus, he consistently focused his cameras on the nature of human relationships, while most moviemakers rushed to film the latest explosion or high-speed chase.

His honest, intimate, restrained movies have made him a favorite on the film festival circuit but the films seldom break through to the mainstream marketplace. Cox is a challenge for some filmgoers because of his belief in the importance of the ordinary and the inherent eloquence of our inner lives.

"In films," Cox has written, "the 'inner' rarely comes to the surface, yet film is the very medium that can penetrate and then project one's inner side.

"Film has become larger than life, leaving no room for life's realities. That's why I don't like 'stars' who project larger than life characters. Each thinking, feeling, struggling individual is much bigger than any of them."

See for yourself in Innocence.