Institute History
Description
A hit on the international circuit, this first feature by a young Australian filmmaker has an impressive list of awards, including a Special Mention at Cannes and seven Australian Film Award nominations. The film tells the story of Martin, a young man blind since birth, who uses photography to record the world he cannot see and to verify information from others. Haunted by fears that his mother told him lies to punish him because he’s blind, Martin decides to trust Andy to describe his photos to him, but only if Andy promises never to lie. Now in his thirties, Martin lives alone, with only a seeing-eye dog and Celia, the young woman who comes to clean his house and do his shopping, for company. Celia and Martin relate mostly through unhealthy acts of mutual humiliation, though secretly she loves Martin and wants to make him dependent on her. Proof evolves into a complex study of love and trust, obsession and knowledge, and betrayal. Blackly humorous at some points, poignant at others, the film is tightly directed and wonderfully acted. The music, by Australia’s Not Drowning, Waving, is particularly good.