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Clip description
Dan (Heath Ledger) has just had a hit in the bathroom at Candy’s parents’ house, during their wedding reception. He returns to a boring conversation with her uncle about real estate, but his senses are overtaken by the heroin. Candy (Abbie Cornish) has to wake him in the middle of the conversation. Mrs Wyatt (Noni Hazlehurst) asks Candy what’s going on. In a fast food restaurant later, Candy and Dan discuss giving up using. He says she just has to say the word.
Curator’s notes
There’s a series of denials going on throughout the movie. Candy’s parents do not know what to do. Her mother suspects Dan is using drugs, but we don’t yet know if she thinks her daughter is. Her father (Tony Martin) reacts to any family stress with soothing words and clichés that excuse their behaviour. They never openly discuss their suspicions, for fear of losing their daughter. Dan’s response to Candy’s question is another evasion: she has to say the word, and he’ll give up, he says. The swimming pool and the fast food scene make clear just how hermetic their world is. They don’t care about her parents, or the fact that their wedding was a sham of family unity. Their world is so very, very complete, as Dan says. The film walks a difficult line – to maintain sympathy with the characters and still depict their great selfishness with clarity and honesty.
