Molly Haskell

The Australian film High Tide gives us an unforgettable mother and daughter who lose and then find one another again. Reuniting director Gillian Armstrong and actress Judy Davis, the formidable team that triumphed eight years ago with My Brilliant Career, the new film is about a very different kind of go-it-alone woman. The difference here is that the mother (Davis), a back-up singer with touring bands, has given up the girl not because of altruism or social ambition but out of anger and fecklessness. . . . When she finally reclaims her daughter, in the halting, back-and-forth moves of this unusual love story, she reclaims herself as well.

With her mercurial face, Davis gives a performance that is an astonishing blend of spirituality and low-life authenticity. Wearing black-red lipstick and no other makeup, she refuses to tart herself up like the other showgirls. Even when she's humiliated--a woman without money, job, or a man--she conveys a core of self-worth.

Claudia Karvan as the little surfer daughter and Jan Adele as the overbearing grandmother are as moving and believable as Davis. . . .

Molly Haskell
Vogue, date ?