Australian Film Takes an Original Look at One Man’s ‘Bliss’

Before there was “Regarding Henry” or “The Doctor” or any of those other redemption movies that hit the screen last year, there was “Bliss.”

Proving that atonement is neither an exclusively ‘90s theme nor one inherent to this side of the globe, “Bliss,” the 1985 Australian Academy Award winner for Best Picture, puts a bizarre twist on that age-old question: What if I had my life to live over again?

As the story unfolds, Harry Joy (Barry Otto) is living the “Australian Dream.” He’s a successful advertising executive with a nice home, a pretty wife, a son who plans to be a doctor, and a daughter who wants to be a social worker. As the narrator describes, Harry is well-liked, “a good bloke, happy with the world and his place in it.”

Then he dies. Or, he nearly dies. Harry has a severe heart attack, followed by an out-of-body experience. Before he leaves for the world beyond, though, he decides he still has some business to take care of back on Earth.

So Harry returns to his body, only to find his world has been turned upside down. He begins to see things in their true light, and the picture is far from blissful.

Harry’s loving wife (Lynette Jones), he discovers, is having an affair with his partner (Jeff Truman). His trusted son is a cocaine dealer who peddles his merchandise to his sister in return for sexual favors. And all of them want Harry out of their lives forever.

Overwhelmed by the depravity of modern society, Harry leaves to find the meaning of his life. His journey takes him from a penthouse apartment to a mental ward to the jungles of the outback, before he realizes that the only true path to salvation is an internal one.

Otto, who starred in “The Howling III,” slips smoothly and believably through Harry’s diverse personalities--high-powered executive, raving lunatic and enlightened hermit.

Director Ray Lawrence’s first film to reach American shores is both grittier and more true to life than its Hollywood counterparts. Whereas “Regarding Henry” and “The Doctor” deliver clear, almost pat solutions, “Bliss” travels down a series of dark alleys with only a vague promise of light at the end. This is no happy romp through the Australian countryside.

Puzzling at times, hilarious at others, original to the core, “Bliss” is a surrealistic, thought-provoking look at modern life and one man’s effort to fit in.

“Bliss” (1986), directed by Ray Lawrence. 93 minutes. Rated R.