Sleeping Beauty (2011)

A haunting portrait of Lucy, a young university student drawn into a mysterious hidden world of unspoken desires.

Director:

Julia Leigh

Writer:

Julia Leigh (screenplay)

Stars:

Bridgette Barrett, Rachael Blake, Emily Browning

6 wins & 25 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bridgette Barrett	...	Dinner Waitress
Rachael Blake	...	Clara
Hannah Bella Bowden	...	Dinner Waitress
Emily Browning	...	Lucy
Alan Cardy	...	Dinner Guest
Peter Carroll	...	Man 1
Les Chantery	...	Driver
Benita Collings	...	Dinner Guest
Michael Dorman	...	Cook
Eden Falk	...	Thomas
Anni Finsterer	...	Train Riding Hairdresser
Mirrah Foulkes	...	Sophie
James Fraser	...	Guy with Ticket
Robin Goldsworthy	...	Flatmate
Vernon Hayman	...	Dinner Guest

Storyline

Lucy is a university student who is working a number of jobs. She volunteers at a research lab, works at a coffee shop, and as a photocopy clerk in an office. She responds to an advertisement and embarks on an erotic freelance job in which she is required to sleep in bed alongside paying customers.

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Plot Keywords:

student | bed | erotica | forced to strip | bra and panties | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 December 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Beleza Adormecida

Filming Locations:

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

AUD 3,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$9,207 (USA) (2 December 2011)

Gross:

$29,004 (USA) (16 December 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Screen Australia, Magic Films, Screen NSW

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Emily Browning replaced Mia Wasikowska who dropped out to do Jane Eyre.

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Goofs

When Lucy is telling her mom her credit card number she only says twelve digits. Visa cards have thirteen or sixteen.

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Quotes

Man 1: Rise up and walk, none of your bones are broken.

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Connections

Featured in Ebert Presents: At the Movies: Episode #1.18 (2011)

User Reviews

No anaesthetic, thank you, doctor...

An interesting choice. Prostitution amidst university students. Rich old men who spend their money on flesh. Modern 'dettachment'... separating the body from the heart, the soul, the mind. Most of the critics of this film seem to dwell on complaining that "our world is not like that! All the people here are horrible...!!!" Of course they are missing the point. We are watching crude realities, but also dreams, symbols, Freudian/Jungian fetishes... A woman is directing. Jane Campion is producing. This is also a 'clue' that MAYBE there is more to this film than meets the eye... Behind the veneer are MANY hidden truths.( Behind the Twin Towers, behind the choice of a black president after a guy like Bush jr.) Separation from the truth. We are all 'anaesthetised'... so Lisa is NOT so strange, after all. Money rules. Maybe we are victims of our society, of our times. We are 'dead', as T.S. Eliot wrote some years ago. Of course the world is full of wonderful, hearty, passionate and generous people. But this film aims elsewhere, and I myself feel grateful to its director, scriptwriter (and , why not, actress) for taking the plunge, and re-floating Pasolini's 'Salò' in a more digestible (maybe more intelligent?) guise. Kubrick? His last movie may still reveal something in the future (ALL his films age very well), but he was an elderly man, and this young director seems to have the upper-hand in as much as hitting the nail on the head with the 'ésprit-du-temps', the 'Zeitgeist' or, more plainly,(and painfully), the new age our youth are forced to grow up in. Somewhat puzzled at first, I gave this film a chance...let it 'breathe', in my conscience and intellect. I'm glad I did. It contains more than one morsel of food for thought.