Review of Candy (1968) by Madison K — 28 Dec 2011

Heaven earth hell.

Candy, played by Abbie Cornish, has fallen madly in love with Dan, played by Heath Ledger. And it's him that gets her so lost into heroin. The two love birds use the drug together to make their bond stronger. Dan starts to borrow money in order to buy more heroin. He asks his professor friend, played by Geoffrey Rush, and even Candy's father (telling him a lie for what the money is needed for, of course), played by Tony Martin.

When Dan doesn't have anyone else to borrow money from, Dan and Candy start to sell some of their things. And when that doesn't get them enough money, she starts to sell herself.

Dan and Candy get married, while in a heroin haze. They get a place of their own, a horrible little shack in the back of a motor workshop. And then, Candy gets pregnant. It is Dan's child and they decide that all of their drug use needs to be a part of their past. They get a nice, little apartment (by using the money Dan gets from stealing a man's wallet and posing as him) and go cold turkey. These scenes of them shut up in their apartment are what really got to me. They are sweating, shaking, shivering, twitchy, and vomitting. In one part, Dan takes a shower and starts beating himself up because of the hell his body is going through.

While in the apartment, Candy starts to bleed and is taken to the hospital. The baby has died but she will still have to go through labor. After the birth, Dan and Candy lie in the hospital bed with their still baby.

Dan and Candy go back to using their drug and move out to the country. Their love starts to fall apart as Candy has a nervous breakdown. Once Candy is well and clean, she meets with Dan but things just can't be the same.

Ledger has a stunning performance in this movie. His shower scene and where he asks to hold his dead child were painful to watch. It was painful because it seemed so real, so sad.

All in all, a movie that I'm happy I watched, but that will probably be my only time seeing it.