| High | |
| Director: | Larry Kent |
| Producer: | Larry Kent |
| Starring: | Michael A. Miranda Helen Papas |
| Cinematography: | Paul Van der Linden |
| Editing: | Pierre Savard |
| Studio: | Cinema Ventures |
| Runtime: | 80 minutes |
| Language: | English |
High is a film released in 1967, directed by Larry Kent and starring Lanny Beckman, Astri Thorvik, Peter Mathews, Joyce Cay, and Denis Payne. Filmed in Montreal, it is likely most-remembered for being banned by the censors of Quebec immediately before its scheduled premiere at the Montreal International Film Festival for its use of drugs, nudity, and explicit sex scenes.[1]
In defense, celebrities such as Jean Renoir, Fritz Lang, and even Warren Beatty came to High 's defense as a film of art, rather than gratuity.
High is the story of a dope-dealing university dropout (Lanning Beckman) and his strait-laced girlfriend (Astri Thorvik) whom he corrupts and leads down a path of petty crime and uninhibited sex. Considered Larry Kent's best film, High is a tough-minded vision of the anarchic and violent underside of the 1960s culture of free love and ‘do-your-own-thing.’ The frank love making scenes and dope smoking led to a wide theatrical release in the U.S. and a ban by the censor boards in Ontario and British Columbia.[2] [3]
The film was screened at the 18th Berlin Film Festival in 1968 as part of Young Canadian Film, a lineup of films by emerging Canadian filmmakers.[4] It was later screened at the 1984 Festival of Festivals as part of Front & Centre, a special retrospective program of artistically and culturally significant films from throughout the history of Canadian cinema.[5]
It was part of a retrospective screening of Kent's films, alongside The Bitter Ash, Sweet Substitute and When Tomorrow Dies, which screened at a number of venues in 2002 and 2003, including Cinematheque Ontario in Toronto, the Pacific Cinémathèque in Vancouver and the Canadian Film Institute in Ottawa.[6]