walkingonwater

SYNOPSIS - WALKING ON WATER

They were four of the best friends, and
then one died a rather nasty death -
and the other three grieved in a rather
nasty fashion in this very moving and
difficult drama that has its sexy
moments..

REVIEW

Charlie (Colosimo), Anna
(Theodorakis), Frank (Bonney)and
Gavin are the best of friends, that is
until Gavin becomes terminal with HIV
(unstated, but obvious) and they
euthanize him by agreement. Charlie
and Frank are lovers, Gavin is a gay
party boy until the very end and Anna
is his business partner and party
buddy (fag hag). These four lived
together in a stylish Sydney house,
basically as a family unit. In the
opening scenes, the filmmaker moves
from the gang coming home trashed
from a bar quickly to the sight of Gavin
bed-ridden in precarious health. Gavin
asks to be euthanized and the group
has someone come in to assist (no,
not Dr. Kervorkian). The death doesn't
go well and Charlie smothers Gavin
with a plastic bag in a scene that
replays itself in Charlie's head
throughout the film (and in this writer's
head now). It's a scene that will pierce
your consciousness and wake you
from any cinematic slumber from which
you may be suffering.

What ensues after Gavin's death is the
work of this film - this is not a
tear-jerker, look for more powerful stuff
here. These people go out on the
night of Gavin's death, snort white
powder and have sex with strangers.
They drink, they have sex with
inappropriate partners, they do
everything but face what just
happened. There are no cascading
strings or two-hankie moments to
manipulate you in this film, there is just
raw, real emotion on your screen. The
music, sets acting, writing and direction
are all superb, making this one hell of
emotional roller coaster, but well worth
the ride.

Scott Cranin