"Candy"

Now that I have chosen my topic for our upcoming “Culture Project” I’ve come to think about it a lot. I chose to write about the drug scene in Dublin which I consider to be a interesting topic to cover. But the reason why I came up with it in the first place is that while researching I had to think of a movie which ultimately lead me to it. I don’t know how many of you have heard of this movie before but it has already stunned many audiences and it still does today. "Trainspotting" deals with a group of heroin addicts’ lives and how the addiction changed who they are. It shows the self-hate and betrayal that comes along with being addicted. And the courage to adress such a difficult topic in such a genuine, will always impress me. Another movie though, that has even touched me a bit more than “Trainspotting” is called “Candy”. This quite unknown film deals with a romantic relationship that is slowly breaking into pieces because of the couple's addiction.

       “Candy” is a movie adaption from a novel called “Candy: A novel of love and addiction”. In the movie we get to follow the lives of Candy and Dan, who fall madly in love with each other. Dan, who is a poet and Candy, a student, enjoy their lives as an almost “carefree” couple. Throughout the film they go through 3 different phases: Heaven, Earth, and hell. Each of the phases is marked by a particual milestone or change in their lives. “Heaven” is marked by their love of heroin and sex. And even though they both have money problems they enjoy their life very much.

       In “Earth” their situation starts to slowly deteriorate. They’re married by now but in order to be able to pay for the drugs they so desperately need, Candy becomes a prostitute. Dan on the other hand, starts to steal and manages to get enough money for them to get along for a while. But when Candy becomes pregnant, they decide to stop taking drugs for the baby’s sake. Going through withdrawal, Candy loses her baby and both are devastated. They succeed to get clean though and it seems like their lives are finally taking a turn for the better.

       In the last chapter of the movie (“Hell”) they move away into the country to try methadone (which should help them settle into their new lives) but Candy soon suffers a nervous breakdown. Dan, who actually remained clean, comes home one day to find all the walls in their house scribbled with a story written by Candy. The story represents their life and shows how desperate and sick Candy already is. Dan, feeling guilty for what happened, turns to drugs again but finally seems to reach a turning point when he finds out that his mentor and the father-figure in his life has died from an overdose. In the meantime, Candy is brought to a clinic to recover while Dan gets a hold of his life and finally stops taking drugs for good. A couple of months later, when both Candy and Dan have succeeded in sorting out their lives, they meet and almost reunite. Dan realizes though, that their relationship was always based on their drug addiction and that without the drugs, there is nothing left to say. He breaks up with her because he doesn’t want to risk dragging them back into addiction again.

       This Australian movie was actually a huge success, but it is still rather unknown. In the leading roles the brilliant Heath Ledger and a powerful Abbie Cornish portray those two very complex characters. They succeed in breathing life into those characters and in making the story so tragic and convincing that almost nobody could not be touched by it.  In my point of view this movie succeeds in showing how difficult it is to go back to a normal life once you've started taking drugs. It also gives people an idea and also warns them against the huge damage drugs can cause in your life.  I think that there shouldn't be any reason or justification for taking drugs because it'll ultimately just destroy oneself and every other aspect of one's life. For me, this movie is a huge piece of advice that is being shout out into the world. I suggest everybody better take it!