Holy Smoke ** (1999, Kate Winslet, Harvey Keitel, Julie Hamilton) – Classic Movie Review 6390

Director Jane Campion co-writes the screenplay of her 1999 Australian drama film with her sister Anna. Confident and struggling at the same time, it is a peculiar, downright odd film, with attractive elements that include its oddness.

Kate Winslet stars as Sydney young woman Ruth Barron, who falls under the influence of charismatic religious guru Baba (Dhritiman Chatterjee) on a journey of personal discovery and spiritual awakening in exotic India.

Harvey Keitel also stars as P J Waters, a macho cult de-programmer hired by her plotting appalled parents, who trick her into coming back to Australia. Waters confronts Ruth in a remote desert hideaway back home in the Outback.

[Spoiler alert] Their relationship then begins to mirror that of Keitel’s with Holly Hunter in The Piano but with very different results. As Waters starts to wears Ruth down, he is sexually attracted to her. Ruth allows him to seduce her, before turning the tables on him.

As intended, the film is commendably quirky and original, but it is also awkward and not fully realised, or completely successful or satisfying. There are aspects of each part of the film – the initial mystic travelogue in India and the feminist parable it becomes back in Australia – that are both attractive and irritating.

Winslet and Keitel are compelling, though, and the film has something on its mind to talk about, and challenge audiences with. You can accept its ideas or reject them, but at least consider them and work it all out. Angelo Badalamenti’s score and Dion Beebe’s cinematography are distinguished elements.

Also in the cast are Julie Hamilton as Miriam Barron, Tim Robertson as Gilbert Barron, Sophie Lee as Yvonne, Daniel Wyllie as Robbie, Paul Goddard as Tim and Pam Grier as Carol.

It is shot in India in Paharganj and Pushkar, and in Australia in Sydney and at Hawker in the Flinders Ranges. Interiors are shot at Fox Studios.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 6390

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com