Innocence

Paul Cox’s “Innocence” is a tender meditation on life and love at old age. Charles “Bud” Tingwell plays Andreas, an elderly widow who is undergoing a reflective period in his life marked by clarity and melancholy. A sentimental, rather impetuous man, Andreas longs for the woman he had a fleeting though passionate affair with over 40 years ago. “Innocence” begins with the re-encounter of Andreas and Claire (Julia Blake) and traces their flowering love and deep mutual affection. It’s a reunion that reawakens a love which has laid dormant for many years and that turns them both into young lovers: they become nervous before their first sexual encounter; they long for each other’s company at every moment afterward. In fact, their love is like a ‘time travel’ experience with flashbacks emphasising the entwinement of past and present. It is rare to see a film so devoted to the elderly and their affairs of the heart. Cox also manages to outline the complexities involved. For example, Claire’s new love poses serious problems for her marriage, and forces both herself and her husband, John (Terry Norris), to question their 45-year commitment. “Innocence” is ultimately a story about love, its different forms, its both destructive potential and ecstatic power.