Yes, I know. I still haven't finished Sydney Film fest but after seeing Julia Leigh's latest catastrophe, I just had to write down all the thoughts buzzing about my head like a swarm of angry wasps.
First of all, I. CANNOT. BELIEVE. ANYONE. MADE. THIS. FILM!!!!
I know it's artsy and indie and different and all the rest of it but seriously?! The whole thing doesn't make any sense!!
Now I know that this is completely going against my better judgment and my promise to never speak of films badly through this blog but I really do need to set an example here of what I'm talking about when I say the film industry needs to wake up and smell the freekin dog shit before they pack it off to an audience.
With all the hype, I was extremely excited about the film. I'd been waiting desperately for the release date to be announced so that I could pencil a session into my diary. I defended the bloody thing over and over again in front of people who had managed to catch the sessions at SFF when they tried to put it down, the whole time me believing that there was no truth in their accusations. I even went so far as to like the page on Facebook. Oh Julia, how could you have let me down so badly?!
Let me back up a little and explain the film for those of you who have been living in a shoebox all your life. Sleeping Beauty is the brainchild of Julia Leigh, a novelist turned screenplay writer/director, which was made by a great production company headed by none other than our very own whimsical Jane Campion. A great cast (Emily Browning, Ewen Leslie, Rachel Blake) and a great crew (Geoffrey Simpson DOP, Nick Meyers Editor, Annie Beauchamp Production Designer) supported the seemingly great narrative which follows the story of Lucy, a down and out student working 4 jobs to support herself for some unknown dilemma who is propositioned to work for a company who provided sexual gratification to the upper class.
That word, unknown, is probably the best adjective to describe the film which had so many plot holes and gaps that it was almost impossible to work out what was happening from one moment to the next. The film jumps between separate parts of Lucy's life as she becomes more involved with her new profession and during this journey, we witness her interaction between various people including her colleagues at her various jobs, her friend, Birdman (played by Leslie), the people she meets through her new job, and various other random individuals. With them all Browning plays off this "devil may care" attitude which is neither provided with a context nor explained as to why she is so cold. And I'm sorry Julia, you may not feel that you need to explain yourself when it comes to your film but when the film doesn't do it for you, you have to help the audience out someway. Not knowing Lucy's background meant her actions and the motivations for them were just completely lost on the audience.
The whole film incorporates this meaningless attitude. The one thing I will say Leigh has going for her is her ability to direct her cast well enough to survive the excruciatingly long, wide angle takes that feature so prominently throughout. Other than that, the film is merely an uncomfortably voyeuristic look into a young girl's life for which no reason is given as to why we should be looking. Unfortunately Julia, you may have fooled Cannes, but I'm not convinved.
0 comments:
Post a Comment