Synopsis: Beautiful and talented young painter Candy (Abbie Cornish) is in love with Dan (Heath Ledger), a part-time poet and heroin user. They believe their love to be enhanced by heroin, wallowing in drug-augmented states of bliss, but as Candy becomes hooked, the lovers begin a downward spiral involving the usual adjuncts: theft, prostitution, despair and denial.

Armfield is one of Australia’s highly respected theatre directors, with his film credits being Twelfth Night and The Castanet Club. After falling under the spell of the novel upon which the film is based, Armfield wanted to explore the paradox that the most attractive things in life can also be the things that destroy us. This is Candy’s nature – the sort of girl who is willing to live life to extremes; to endlessly pursue “the rush” and the elusive feeling of being able to transcend and live on a higher plane, despite the dangers involved.

Everyday “normality” is represented by Candy’s parents Mr Wyatt (Tony Martin) and his wife (Noni Hazelhurst), loving middle class parents who seem unwilling to confront the obvious in their daughter’s decline, but whose uptightness and difficulty in communicating have obviously also contributed in some way to Candy’s situation. The strange twilight world of addicts who appear to function in day-to-day life is inhabited by Dan’s friend Caspar (Geoffrey Rush), a chemistry professor, committed junkie and unintentional collaborator in the couple’s decline.

Candy certainly does not glamorise heroin addiction, but neither does it condemn it. Rather it shows the terrible sadness and the moral ambiguities of addiction, both to substances and to love. Both addictions seem inseparable for these lovers. Drug use has long been associated with artistic pursuits and the romantic bohemian life. Certainly Dan sees it this way, but it is Candy’s ghastly unravelling that hits hardest as an example of the nightmare of a wasted life that heroin can create. However, there is also a strong erotic charge between Ledger and Cornish, and the constant interplay of their romance versus the living hell of their addiction creates great dramatic tension.

The lyrical way in which the film is shot enhances the sense of euphoric unreality, with at times a strong painterly feel to the look. Certain scenes present such a horrific reality, yet they are shot so beautifully, such as the scene where the half-crazed Candy watches honey pouring languidly onto the carpet.

All the performances are splendid. Now an international star, Ledger (Casanova, Brokeback Mountain), is totally at home in an Aussie role, Cornish (Somersault), with her translucent look, rules the screen, Rush (Shine) is at his best as the amoral Caspar, and Hazelhurst (Little Fish) does a great disapproving mother, while Martin (The Interview) is strong as the father at a loss as to what to say or do in a situation beyond his understanding.