De Heer displays customary compassion

An immensely entertaining film when it could so easily have been depressing.

In Dance Me To My Song Julia, Heather Rose, suffers from cerebral palsy. She lives in her own house in suburban Adelaide, but she can`t function without a carer. Her current carer, Madelaine, Joey Kennedy, is hopelessly inadequate - selfish and self-destructive, her obsession with sex makes her as much an intruder in Julia`s home as a helper. She often simply abandons her patient, either out of forgetfulness or spite. And then Julia meets Eddie, John Brumpton, a friendly fellow who brings something new into her life...Rolf De Heer has never taken the easy option, and Dance Me To My Song is one of his most challenging, yet satisfying, films. Much of the credit goes to Heather Rose whom De Heer met when he was making Bad Boy Bubby and who was inspired to write a fictional story about a woman very much like herself - intelligent, vibrant, but cruelly trapped in a malfunctioning body. Rose wrote the screenplay in collaboration with De Heer and Frederick Stahl, and De Heer has directed the material with his customary compassion, filling his simple images with dramatic tension. Rose`s boldly candid portrayal of Julia is the film`s centerpiece, but the supporting players tackle their challenging roles with generosity. Above all, Dance Me To My Song is an immensely entertaining film; it could so easily have been depressing, but it isn`t - not at all. It`s a warm, positive, affirmation of life, and a major achievement for all concerned.