Into Invisible Light
(Canada, 102 min)
Dir. Shelagh Carter, Writ. Shelagh Carter, Jennifer Dale
Starring: Jennifer Dale, Peter Keleghan, Jaydee-Lynn
McDougall, Kari Matchett, Kristen Harris, Stuart Hughes
Robert Lantos may have produced In Praise of Older Women in 1978, but actor Jennifer Dale, Lantos's ex-wife, gives audiences a woman to celebrate in 2019. Dale is simply luminous in Into Invisible Light. Playing Helena, a recently widowed housewife and socialist with a
newfound spark of passion, Dale creates an intriguing, full-bodied, and richly
realized character. It’s one of those nicely fleshed-out and three-dimensional
performances that mature actresses too rarely get to give in the movies.
In between Helena’s second wind and reawakening, however,
are a few under-served storylines that struggle to flesh out the film and feel
like filler. One subplot features Michael’s daughter, Monica (Jaydee-Lynn
McDougall), as an aspiring dancer readying for a big scholarship audition.
Another features Michael’s wife Lydia (Kari Matchett), who simply disappears
for most of the film because she can’t stand living with a tortured artist. Then
there’s David (Stuart Hughes), the business partner of Helena’s late husband,
who presents something of love interest as they work together to execute a
scholarship fund for the artists that Oliver saddled her with in his will. Even
if the subplots never really work, one can see where and how they will
converge.
A clunky score, dubbed “thoughtful piano music” by the
screener link’s embedded closed-captioning, frequently pushes Helena back into
the box of a suffering woman. (It’s that thudding kind of bargain bin temp music
that doesn’t do a film any favours.) Into
Invisible Light, at least from Dale’s interpretation, is really about Helena
finally coming to life. There’s a glowing energy and confidence to Dale’s
screen presence, especially in her scenes with Keleghan as Helena emerges from
the silence that’s stifled her creatively and emotionally for far too long. The
film also gets lost in some sporadic black-and-white interludes that feature
Helena alone in her bedroom—dreamy vignettes that resemble perfume commercials.
The low production constraints inevitably compromise the film’s higher meaning.
And when one has a performance as good as the one Dale gives, there really
isn’t any need to spray Chanel No. 5 with “thoughtful piano music” wafts
through the air. Although the film itself isn’t especially great, Into Invisible Light is a ticket worth
supporting if audiences want to see more Helenas and Jennifer Dales on the
screen.
Into Invisible Light
opens Feb. 1 in Toronto, Vancouver, and Winnipeg.