Martin (Hugo Weaving) has been blind from birth and trusts no-one except the camera that has replaced his eyes. By taking photos, Martin has proof that the world he senses in the same one other people see. Unfortunately Martin has never known anyone he trusts enough to describe his photos to him. Until he meets Andy (Russell Crowe), a young kitchen hand whose honesty and kindness touches him. But Martin’s jealous housekeeper Celia (Genevieve Picot), uses seduction as a weapon, setting out to destroy this trusting relationship with a cold act of revenge.

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A blind man walking along the street with his cane and dark glasses may not be such an unusual sight, but the camera slung around his shoulder is a curious accessory. In her debut feature, Jocelyn Moorhouse unforgettable drama about trust is filled with emotional complexity and touches of dark humour. A haunting film about a blind man obsessed with truth, Proof takes us on a precarious journey, delving into the incongruity of human emotions.

Hugo Weaving’s powerful performance engulfs us into Martin’s world. Moorehouse uses exaggerated sounds such as the ticking of a clock, the dripping tap, rain falling down the window pane, the clatter of a tea cup to highlight a blind man’s interior world. We are fascinated as we watch Martin take photographs of everything - from a leaf in the park to his new friend Andy. His mission is to prove that what he senses instinctively is identical to what the human eye can describe. We quickly get a sense of Martin’s sightless world and Weaving creates a paradox of a character: he can be vulnerable, audacious, suspicious and cruel. Martin is suspicious of everyone: even as a child he did not believe his mother.

But when we meet Celia (Genevieve Picot, chilling), we realize that her needs are far greater than her blind employer. Picot’s brittle housekeeper has been obsessed with Martin for two years. She takes photographs too, but her only subject is Martin.

It is clear that Martin and Celia play games with each other, and at first, it is hard to tell who has the upper hand. Martin denies Celia his respect and affection, treating her coldly, while Celia, hurt by his rebuff, uses cruelty as her weapon. She moves the furniture around, so Martin will trip over it, and leads his guide dog Bill away from him in the park. ‘I can hurt you whenever I like,’ says Celia, but she knows that the hurdles she places in front of Martin only irritate, and do not penetrate his reserve.

When Martin meets Russell Crowe’s Andy, he at once senses his honesty. It’s a beautifully underplayed performance by Crowe in his third film role, and we can read his Andy succinctly. There’s a bizarre scene when Andy takes Martin to the drive in and describes in words events occurring on the screen - moment-by-moment. When Andy goes to buy some refreshments, Martin is left alone in the car. First, we get a sense of the situation from Martin’s point of view, as he touches the dinosaur on the dashboard, the hanging gorilla under the mirror, the lambskin over the steering wheel. Then the perception is changed as we see Martin from the point of view of the passengers in the adjacent car – a blind man at a drive-in movie. The ensuing scene at the police station is both unexpected, and funny.

While digital cameras may have replaced the kind of camera used in this film, there’s nothing dated about its themes. Proof is about the intricacies of the relationships, and as we get to know each of the three central characters, we are captivated. The most powerful moments are those without words, when looks and expressions say it all. It’s a riveting journey and one we are well satisfied by.

In Hugo Weaving’s articulate and personal commentary, he says the concept of a blind photographer was immediately exciting to him. ‘I always thought this film was a bit of a watershed for Australian film,’ he recalls. ‘There was a resurgence of filmmaking in Australia in the 70s, which tended to be period dramas… Proof seemed to be the beginning of something quite different, concerned with what was going on now….It was also one of the first films that was described as being quirky.’

We feel as though we are spending 86 minutes in his company; Weaving is refreshingly open, including comments like ‘God, I look young,’ and ‘..there we are, obviously dressed to the right,’ during the seduction scene with Celia. He is full of praise for the script and talks about the great trust between the filmmakers - Jocelyn Moorhouse, producer Lynda House, PJ Hogan, and the cast and small crew. (PJ Hogan, Moorhouse’s husband, was director of second unit).

One of the reasons why he loves this film, Weaving says, is because Martin has come a long way, even though nothing terribly dramatic has happened. ‘It’s interior, and psychologically complex.’

TITLE: PROOF: DVD

RATING: (M)

ORIGIN: (Aust, 1991)

FOREIGN TITLE:

SECTION: DVD

CAST: Hugo Weaving, Geneviève Picot, Russell Crowe, Heather Mitchell, Jeffrey Walker, Daniel Pollock, Frankie J. Holden

PRODUCER: Lynda House

DIRECTOR: Jocelyn Moorhouse

SCRIPT: Jocelyn Moorhouse

RUNNING TIME: 86 minutes

DVD

PRESENTATION: Widescreen 16:9/1.85:1 (original theatrical ratio)

SPECIAL FEATURES: Audio Commentary by Jocelyn Moorhouse and Hugo Weaving; Photos from Martin’s album

DVD DISTRIBUTOR: Roadshow Entertainment

DVD RELEASE: August 5, 2004