Paul Cox Movies

Acclaimed Australian filmmaker Paul Cox directs this intimate drama about the unlikely bond between a prostitute and a bible scholar. Natalia Novakova plays Irina, a Russian immigrant forced to sell herself out of necessity. Bruce Myles is Barry, a man married to a religious zealot who leaves him unfulfilled and seeking solace in the arms of Irina. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

For a brief span of several years, Vaslav Nijinsky was perhaps the brightest star in the history of classical dance. Making his professional debut in 1907, the Russian-born dancer first became the sensation of the Saint Petersburg Imperial Ballet, and then spread his fame worldwide when he became a dancer and choreographer with the Ballets Russes in Paris, working alongside the noted dance patron Sergei Diaghilev. Nijinsky's fame came not just from his technical skills as a dancer, but his bold and unrelenting desire to expand the boundaries of what could be expressed through the medium of ballet. However, while he blazed many trails, he was also a man driven by a mixture of anger, paranoia, and visions of his own greatness. His beliefs struck many as perilously close to madness, and in 1919, a few months after his final performance, Nijinsky was committed to a mental institution, where he would remain until his death in 1950. He kept a diary in which he wrote about his life and accomplishments as well as his philosophies, his personal demons, and his feelings about his own creative nature. Bowdlerized excerpts were first published in 1936, while the unexpurgated text finally saw the light of day in 1995. Filmmaker Paul Cox has long been fascinated by Nijinsky's writings, and his feature Nijinsky: From the Diaries of Vaslaw Nijinsky is a labor of love, in which Derek Jacobi reads from the dancer's journals, while a variety of images -- some abstract, some re-creations of Nijinsky's dances, still others dramatizations of episodes from his life -- appear onscreen to compliment or contrast the words he wrote to explain and express himself. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Based on the true story of a priest who risked his life in order to help people no one else would touch (a wager he would eventually lose), Father Damien stars David Wenham as the titular Belgian saint. In 1872, Damien, a young Catholic priest serving as a missionary near Hawaii, volunteers to spend three months working in a colony for victims of leprosy on the island of Molokai. When he arrives, he discovers the lepers have been herded to a barely inhabitable part of the island where they're treated like animals. Damien is shocked, and makes it his crusade to improve the lives of the lepers, planting trees to help buffer the island's strong winds and building huts to house the sicker members of the tribe. Damien also concerns himself with their spiritual needs, restoring a sense of dignity and self-respect among the diseased and urging them away from drinking, sex, and other sinful behavior. At first, Damien's pleas to the mainland for medicine, supplies, and medical help fall on deaf ears, but soon the press picks up on Damien's story -- which only angers the Hawaiian government, who would prefer the plight of the lepers be forgotten. Damien is destined to spend the last years of his life on Molokai when he contacts the disease himself, working to ease the pain of his fellow victims to his last breath. Father Damien boasts a star-studded supporting cast, including Sam Neill, Peter O'Toole, Leo McKern, Kris Kristofferson, and Derek Jacobi. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Tom Waits narrates this documentary about Manitoba filmmaker Guy Maddin (Tales from the Gimli Hospital, Careful, Archangel), seen directing Twilight of the Ice Nymphs. Stills, clips, and home movies are combined with talking-head interviews with friends, actors, and co-workers, tracing the troubled life he led as a youth in Winnipeg. Shown in 1997 at the Vancouver and Toronto film festivals. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

This German film consists of six separate vignettes each created by a different international director, each challenged to create brief erotic scenarios. The first, named "Wet," was directed by Bob Rafelson and involves an encounter between a bathroom fixtures salesman and a customer who comes after hours to sample the hot tubs. The next, "The Dutch Master," directed by Susan Seidelman, follows a modern woman's obsession with 17th century Dutch painting and who eventually enters it to fulfill her dreams. The third, "The Insatiable Mrs. Kirsch," is Ken Russell's entry and tells the story of a young novelist who becomes obsessed with a highly-sexed woman addicted to auto-erotic pursuits. A young man gets what he wants after a voodoo woman grants his wish involving a hot woman and a motorcycle in the fourth episode directed by Melvin Van Peebles. Number five, "Touch Me," by Paul Cox follows the amorous friendships of women. Finally the sixth episode, "The Cloud Door," from Mani Kaul, involves a beautiful princess locked in a palace by a religious fanatic, a lascivious parrot, and a handsome young man. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Careful takes place in the remote Alpine village of Tolzbad, where everyone speaks in whispers for fear of starting an avalanche. This self-inflicted noise control to the overall suppression of emotions and impulses. Entering this rarefied atmosphere is aspiring butler Brent Neale. Remaining as silent as his companions, Neale bears witness to all sorts of muted aberrations, from incest to surreptitious suicide. Director Guy Maddin stages Careful in the manner of an early German Expressionistic talkie, replete with subtitles, hand-tinted color sequences, heavy-handed symbolism and a "popping" soundtrack. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Australian director Paul Cox, skilled at intense psychological stories about lone souls looking for comfort in a cold world, was at his best with this original script co-written by the director and Barry Dickins. Martha is a 78-year-old woman living out her final days. Not a maudlin tale of a lonely woman wasting away, A Woman's Tale focuses on a human who manages to maintain an amazing vitality in the face of death. She encourages her young nurse, Anna (Gosia Doborowolska), to use her flat for romantic trysts; she looks in on Billy (Norman Kayes), an elderly neighbor, and she resists attempts by her son Johanathan (hris Haywood) to place her in a nursing home. Sheila Florance's performance as Martha is a marvel, especially given the art-imitates-life aspect of production: Florance was terminally ill, and she died soon after she was nominated for the Best Actress Award for Australia's Academy Awards. ~ Tom Wiener, All Movie Guide

Greek Irene Papas, Australian Eva Sitta and Sri Lankan Anoja Weerasinghe all meet while vacationing on a tiny Greek island. The threesome discovers that each is a fugitive from an oppressive, unhappy private life. The protective nature of the Island is personified by deafmute native Chris Haywood, who accidentally kills a man who has been annoying Sitta. Having been sheltered from their pasts by the Island, the three ladies conspire to return the favor by hiding Haywood from prosecution. Produced by an Australian firm, The Island was lensed on location on the Aegean isle of Astypalea. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Young Edward (Philip Quast) is an impressionable lad who is used by friends and family in this offbeat drama. While attending a prim and proper boarding school, he loses his best friend when the young Asian hangs himself after repeated racial slurs and taunts from cruel classmates. When he is older, Edward (Marcus Gollings) is set up by his drug-dealing brother in a money-laundering scam. The crooked brother gets off, while Edward suffers the humiliation of being branded a criminal. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Isabelle Huppert plays a French woman who travels to Australia after leaving her husband. Injured in an accident, Huppert is in danger of losing her sight. Her friends try to get her to "bond" with blind doctor Robert Menzies, who possesses a greenhouse full of cactus. In the big "Author's Statement" scene, Menzies likens his cactus to people who need special care, even though they seem to bloom only when neglected. The arrival of Isabelle's husband Jean-Pierre Mignon only serves to solidify the relationship between "human cacti" Huppert and Menzies. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In a slightly padded but well-acted and relevant drama, an Australian mining company and a group of aboriginals go to court to settle a dispute over sacred land that the company wants to mine. When the Ayers Mining Company sets out to begin construction of its mine with bulldozers and earth-movers, the Aboriginals physically block the work because the site is exactly where the green ants will gather to dream (a 40,000-year-old legend) and it cannot be disturbed. The company tries the usual means of getting their way -- through bribes and arguments -- but nothing budges the men who came to defend the land. Once in court, it is quickly apparent that tribal laws and customs and beliefs are very different than Western laws -- and how the issue will be resolved is sticky indeed. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The Australian Man of Flowers stars Norman Kaye in the title role. A painter, Kaye has earned his nickname from his beautifully rendered flower portraits. He uses his artistic skills as a means of channelling his repressed sexual yearnings, especially his feelings towards nude model Alyson Best. When flowers no longer quench his carnal thirsts, Kaye expresses himself on his pipe organ, hammering out impassioned songs as a sort of musical cold shower. A flashback, which is meant to explain Kaye's hang-ups (but deliberately does not) features German director Werner Herzog in an unbilled cameo as Kaye's father. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide