It would be silly to suggest that this is simply an early, before-he-was-famous Russell Crowe film; it's so much more than that (although young Russ was a bit of a spunk). Moorhouse's first feature is a delicate and thought-provoking film about Martin (Weaving), a blind man, and his fixation with photographing all elements of the world around him, as proof that people are being honest with him. He has an overdeveloped sense of paranoia, made worse by the cruel and disturbing attentions of his housekeeper Celia (Picot). Martin and Celia share an extremely cynical and embittered view of life and each other. Martin meets a bright spark in Andy (Crowe), a kitchen-hand in a local restaurant, who helps him by describing the action in each of Martin's photographs in ten words or less. This relationship becomes strained when little white lies creep into the stories, and each character is confronted by their own interpretation of what trust and truth mean.
Proof raises issues about human interaction and self-awareness, niggling doubts, deceit and manipulation. It could easily have been called 'Obsession' but that would have perhaps given the impression it dealt with American death row psychopaths telepathically stalking babysitters. In fact, it's a simple tale with some interesting elements, a fair dose of pathos and some genuinely funny moments.