Holy Smoke (1999)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Jane Campion

Writers:

Anna Campion (written by) &
Jane Campion (written by)

Release Date:

22 February 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Comedy

Tagline:

Sex captive in desert hideaway...young beauty seduced by macho American twice her age.

Plot:

While on a journey of discovery in exotic India, beautiful young Ruth Barron falls under the influence of a charismatic religious guru...

Plot Keywords:

Cult | India | Guru | Lesbian Kiss | Urine

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Kate Winslet	...	Ruth
Harvey Keitel	...	PJ Waters
Julie Hamilton	...	Mum
Sophie Lee	...	Yvonne
Daniel Wyllie	...	Robbie (as Dan Wyllie)
Paul Goddard	...	Tim
Tim Robertson	...	Dad
George Mangos	...	Yani
Kerry Walker	...	Puss
Les Dayman	...	Bill-Bill (as Leslie Dayman)
Samantha Murray	...	Prue
Sandy Gutman	...	Stan (as Austen Tayshus)
Simon Anderson	...	Fabio
Pam Grier	...	Carol
Eva Martin	...	Devotee

Also Known As:

Holy Smoke! (USA) (video box title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong sexuality and language.

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA | Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Singapore:R21 | Germany:12 | USA:R (cut) | Iceland:12 (video rating) | Iceland:L | Singapore:R21 (re-rating) | Netherlands:16 (DVD rating) (video rating) | Netherlands:6 (re-rating) | Taiwan:R-18 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Canada:R | Chile:18 | Finland:K-14 | France:U | Hong Kong:III | Japan:R-18 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Singapore:R(A) | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18 | Philippines:R-18

Filming Locations:

Flinders Ranges, South Australia, Australia

Company:

India Take One Productions

Trivia:

According to an interview following the shoot, Kate Winslet admitted that in the urination scenes there was bag taped to her leg to pull off the effect. Finally she got frustrated and asked Jane Campion if she could just urinate herself. Campion did one take this way, but the urine was harder to control than Winslet had thought, and the take was scrapped.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: As the pickup truck with Ruth and PJ pulls away near the end of the film, the camera rig and crane are reflected in the truck's rear window.

Quotes:

PJ: I don't hate women. I love ladies.
Ruth Barron: Ha! Ladies! You wouldn't know any. I bet you date little Barbie dolls, don't you? "Oh, you're so brainy, you're so big! Can I suck your dick?" Can I be alone now?

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Zomergasten: (#17.1)" (2004)

Soundtrack:

Maya, Mayi Ma - The Celebration

Very good subject but the movie lacks depth

The interesting and important themes dealt with make this movie well worth watching.

First you think that it will be a simple educational movie about cult addiction and recovery - but then the plot starts to get complicated. Maybe even a bit too complicated, because the end part of the movie feels rather artificial.

The story tells about very important and even universal things: meaning of life, feelings of emptiness, relationships of leaders and their pupils, human nature, need of love. But though those themes are thought provoking, the movie itself lacks a lot as a movie. I cannot help thinking that someone could have made this into a much better movie (shouldn't be the fault of the makers though, many of them have had good artistic achievements).

The persons lack enough depth. The truly complicated nature of people is not - after all - portraited realistically enough in this movie. Because of that you never start to take the movie seriously enough despite the many dead serious themes dealt with.

Very difficult movie to rate. In purely artistic sense, the movie: acting, directing, filming etc. is worth maybe 6/10, but because of the important thought provoking subject, I give it a much better 8/10.