Paul Cox Movies

An angry young man desperately searches the streets of Greenwich village to find and get revenge upon the burglars who raped his girlfriend in this gritty urban drama. His investigation leads him to a hooker who knows the punks and tricks her into telling him where they are. Things go well, until the thieves catch on and capture the hero and sentence him, the girl, the streetwalker to death and an innocent bystander to death. Violence ensues as the victims fight for their lives. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

In this drama, the marriage between an unhappy young couple trying to hold themselves together for the sake of their daughter is chronicled. When the daughter disappears, the two finally come together for real. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This low-budget art-house feature chiefly concerns an encounter between "The Man" and "The Woman" of the film in a Victorian mansion. They discuss philosophy while the man prepares to photograph her in a study of beauty and ugliness, and together the two of them probe one another's psychological depths, which reviewers found to be atoms-thin. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

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, Rovi

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, Rovi

Ancient and modern Egypt are contrasted in this informative documentary that looks at some recent excavations at Saqqara by an Australian archaeologist and his team. Saqqara is a complex of mastabas (pyramidal tombs) and underground chambers with paintings that depict activities of royalty around 2600 B.C. The quiet and seclusion of the site, as well as the incredible coloring and beauty of its interior murals are contrasted with the hustle and bustle of Cairo. Phillip Adams, columnist and chairman of the Australian Film Commission narrates.
~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

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, Rovi

As can easily be ascertained by the title, this Australian documentary focuses upon that most tortured of artistic geniuses, Vincent Van Gogh. Filmmaker Paul Cox utilizes Vincent's "Dear Theo" letters to his brother as the dramatic spine of this visual feast. Van Gogh's fiercely impressionistic paintings alternate with "real life" images of the places and faces that the artist wished to convey. John Hurt reads Van Gogh's words in a manner than can be characterized as controlled turbulence. Vincent: The Life & Death of Vincent Van Gogh would make an excellent companion piece to Robert Altman's like-vintage Vincent and Theo -- or, for that matter, the 1956 Hollywood romanticization Lust for Life. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Bernard (Chris Haywood) is clearly someone with an obsessive personality, as witnessed by his lifelong love affair with old-time clocks. He even earns his livelihood by finding, selling, and repairing them. However, obsessions aside, he seems a decent sort, happly involved in a relationship with Terese (Gosia Dobrowolska), the wife of a clueless Salvation Army major. When Bernard discovers a lock of golden hair in a very old cabinet, a new obsession develops: he literally falls in love with it. He talks to it, he fondles it, he even has sex (of a sort) with it. As he does, he grows every more detached from real life. However, his living girlfriend is not going to take this sort of thing lying down, and she energetically works to win him back. This tale is based on a 19th century story, Le Chevelure, by French author Guy de Maupassant. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Michael is the extremely impoverished nephew of George, a wealthy mining magnate. Not only is he poor now, but he grew up poor. Michael has reason to believe that his uncle cheated him of his inheritance from his father's share in the family mining operation. Michael is concerned about taking care of a mentally handicapped brother and a half-brother who is part aboriginal. George, when confronted, indicates that whatever the facts of the case are, he isn't letting go of a penny. Michael decides to kidnap George's granddaughter for ransom. The snatch takes place while the girl's aunt, a Polish nun, is visiting her mother (the nun's sister), who is not well. She gets caught up in the abduction as well, and a relationship develops between the angry young man and the otherworldly religious woman. She only knows that he seems like a ruffian, and she expects to be raped. He just wants her to be respectful of him. The situation brings on a degree of personal intimacy neither of them has anticipated. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

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, Rovi

This caustic Australian comedy is meant to burn those commercial interests who sponsor artists for tax breaks. It also a sexually unresponsive wife's revenge against her cheating husband. Heiress Georgina Oliphant, the daughter of pharmaceutical magnate George Oliphant is on a mission to find a sculptor suitable of her father's sponsorship. Normally, George doesn't give a hoot about art, but tax time approaches and he needs a big deduction. Since large bronze statues are 100% deductible, that's what he wants. Georgina comes through with the lesbian sculptor Lily Carmichael who suggests a detailed male nude, sans fig leaf. For her model, lily chooses unemployed hunk Karl-Heinz Applebaum who at first doesn't realize he is to model totally nude. Fortunately, coquettish Georgina is around to convince him to shed those clothes. He soon begins looking forward to the sessions much to the dismay of his frowsy, sexually frosty wife Cecilia, a devout member of the "Center for Synchronic Awareness," an esoteric religious cult which is headed by the oily, avaricious Baba Charles whose picture Cecilia has placed throughout her home (Aussie film buffs may recognize the photo as that of director Rolf de Heer, a rival of this film's director Paul Cox). Soon enough, her husband and Georgina become lovers causing Cecilia to hatch an elaborate plot for revenge, a plot in which the financially beleaguered George Oliphant unwittingly assists by having her pose with her husband for an even larger, more tax deductible sculpture. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi