Constance

Imagine that it's 1984 and you go to the cinema dreaming that you're Rita Hayworth, then wake up next morning and find that you are in suburban Auckland, New Zealand - all cheery, scrubbed faces and neat aspirations. A daunting movie subject, which could easily have turned into whimsy and nostalgia; but thanks to a magnificently realised performace by Rees, the film's stab at the tone of the great post-war melodrama is an almost total success. From minor social peccadilloes via debauchery to complete self-abasement, Constance clings to her dream until it destroys her. Combining a real sense of style with some genuine emotion, the film is lush and exhilarating.