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Dorothy Porter's book "The Monkey's Mask" was a groundbreaker on numerous levels. The text was a novel constructed from poetic verse ("is it a novel or a bloody long poem"? one commentator asked). Furthermore, Porter took a harboiled detective/ noir narrative and relocated it from the streets of NY or LA to seamy inner-city Sydney. Where once we had misogynist male gumshoes(i.e. Sam Spade), Porter gave us Jill Fitzpatrick, a female detective who was also - and proudly - a lesbian.

So how does it translate to film? Very interestingly, indeed.

The story (for those unfamiliar) entails Jill investigating the disappearance and subsequent murder of Mickey Norris, a young Uni student whose amateurish poetry is laced with sex and death. Jill's investigation leads her into Sydney's incestuous poetry scene, and particularly into the bed of Diana Maitland, Jill's duplicituous lecturer. And that's where trouble starts ...

Susie Porter and Kelly McGillis are brilliant as Jill and Diana respectively. There is more emphasis given here to the sexual side of their relationship than there was in Porter's text, and some of the sex scenes do, alas, border on fetishistic.

However, I was fascinated by the way their relationship was mediated by a whole range of other factors. There is class: Diana is an uber-wealthy city dweller who dines at Darling Harbour, while Jill is a working-class woman living in a dingy caravan on Sydney's exclusive North Shore. Also, Diana is entwined in two seedy 'scenes': the poetry world, and the world of English/cultural studies academia. The seamy, incestuous, inhumane side of academia has been explored in films as diverse as Hitchcock's 'Rope' (which TMM bears a resemblance to stylistically- and that also had homosexuality as a theme) to the 1970s horror film 'Bloodsuckers' (an appropriate title for Diana). In The Monkey's Mask, Diana talks down about her students (the women in her class love 'victim poetry', apparently). When Jill tells her of Mickey's gruesome murder, Diana is more excited over her latest academic grant!

In support, Marton Csokas was brilliant as Diana's 'kept man' Nick. He reminded me of Vincent Price's 'kept man'/ playboy in the 1944 noir classic 'Laura'. Unfortunately, the rest of the supporting cast are under-used. As Jill's father, Chris Winwood is given little to do bar totter around with a whisky bottle. Then there is the talented Deborah Mailman, wasted in a thinly-sketched role as Jill's best friend (the most she is given to do is 'come onto' her friend during a time of grief, and that - as another commentator suggested - suggests a dubious link between lesbians and sexual voraciousness. This is a link that is made absolutely concrete in Diana's character, whose evil is - in the film - largely attributed to her sexual appetite).

Also, the movie's conclusion was too neat and polished, given all the ambiguity and uncertainty that preceded it. The ending of Porter's book wasn't nearly as cut-and-dried.

And what was the point of Jill's closing line: "Forget the bitch"? Porter didn't mention that. Was its inclusion to comfort the (conservative, hetero, etc) viewer that the dangerous dyke relationship is over, and we can all sleep nice and easy. Worrying stuff, indeed.

Having said that,though, Lang's 'The Monkey's Mask' is an interesting contributionto the noir genre. Stylish and sensual, with some great chemistry between the leads, it is intelligent entertainment that deserves a look.

I did enjoy The Monkey's Mask but lets face it, this script needed some more re-writing. Porter is very good and her character is interesting but she's really not cut out to be a private investigator. When she announces to someone that she's a PI working on the case you expect some of the characters to brush her aside and say "Beat it"! The chapter element of the film is really not needed. This film has no chapters. It's not that long of a film and it flows nicely so it was pointless to have it at all. I did enjoy the sex scenes with Kelly McGillis who doesn't appear in films nearly enough and she's always had great beauty and even though she's probably nearing 50, she looks great. I'm not buying the attraction of the two for each other but the nudity is pretty daring and I enjoyed the audacity of that part of the film. The whole way that she solves the case is not convincing and it looks like anyone could have figured it out. Not a bad little independent film from Australia. I recommend it for Porter's performance and her scenes with McGillis.

Titilating sex scenes make up for the disjointed story line. While investigating a missing-person case, a female detective(Susie Porter)is sidetracked when she enters a lesbian affair with a married professor(Kelly McGillis). Totally nude love scenes are interesting. Porter is a more convincing lesbian than private detective. And it is nice to see McGillis sans clothing. Also in the cast are:Abbie Cornish, Jean-Pierre Mignon and Marton Csokas. Cornish is very alluring and demands attention through her character's poetry. Strong sexual content and graphic dialogue are a plus for this crime drama.

Caught this on cable last night and I've decided that I like Susie Porter very much - she's got an incredibly expressive face (along with her adorable body, which we get to see a LOT of) and she was thoroughly convincing as the p.i. trying to solve the murder of a teenage poet while falling in love with the poet's teacher (Kelly McGillis, not quite believable in her role but she still looked good with Porter in the bathtub). Not very well-written or directed either - it's too long, too self-conscious and too convoluted - but it does have a certain style. . .and it DOES have the very appealing and watchable Porter.

Private Investigator Jill Fitzpatrick (Susie Porter) is trying to find a missing girl. While looking for clues she encounters Diana (Kelly McGillis), a poetry professor. Jill is overwhelmed by her attraction to this beautiful, older, married woman.

The two soon hook up and the proverbial sparks fly!

Everything seems fine until the missing girl case takes a tragic turn, and the parents want Jill to catch the person responsible. This leads to threats on Jill's life and a growing sense of paranoia and dread.

Meanwhile, Jill discovers that Diana has a very dark, cold side to her nature.

THE MONKEY'S MASK is an erotic thriller with a nice noir atmosphere. The story is intriguing and unsettling. Parker and McGillis have great chemistry, and the love scenes are convincing.

Highly recommended for fans of the genre...