Sweetie (1989 film)

Last updated

Sweetie
Sweetieposter.jpg
Film poster
Directed by Jane Campion
Written byJane Campion
Gerard Lee
Produced byJohn Maynard
Starring
CinematographySally Bongers
Edited by Veronika Jenet
Music by Martin Armiger
Distributed by Filmpac Distribution
Release date
  • 28 September 1989 (1989-09-28)
Running time
97 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish

Sweetie is a 1989 Australian black comedy drama film directed by Jane Campion, and starring Genevieve Lemon, Karen Colston, Tom Lycos, and Jon Darling. Co-written by Campion and Gerard Lee, the film documents the contentious and chaotic relationships among a woman in her twenties, her parents, and her emotionally unstable sister. It was Jane Campion's first feature film. It was entered into the 1989 Cannes Film Festival [1] and won an Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film in 1991. [2]

Contents

Plot

The story focuses on a dysfunctional Australian family that includes two daughters: Dawn (nicknamed "Sweetie") a lively, often delusional woman who fancies herself an actor, and her thin, sullen, superstitious sister Kay, a factory worker who has a boyfriend named Louis. Their parents, Flo and Gordon, are having serious marital problems.

Kay loves Louis because the words of a fortune teller portended she would end up with him. However, the couple's relationship begins to show signs of strain, with Kay uprooting and hiding a tree Louis attempts to plant in their yard because she feels a deep foreboding about it. After an absence, Sweetie returns home with her drug-addicted lover and "manager" Bob; she then proceeds to intimidate, control, and abuse the other members of her family. Gordon chooses to ignore Sweetie's mental illness and erratic, childish behaviour because he loves her and thinks of her as a child. Throughout the film, there are flashbacks to Sweetie dancing, singing and performing small, circus-like tricks with Gordon's assistance. Flo admits he indulges her.

Sweetie's emotional volatility and physical destructiveness (ruining Kay's clothes, breaking furniture) reflects the disruption she has caused her family. Louis breaks up with Kay after mounting tension between the couple. After a series of circular fights (Sweetie rages, her family forgives her, her sweetness and fun persona return), Sweetie completely loses her mind. She strips off her clothes, paints her body black and holes up in her childhood tree house. Though her family begs her to come down, she refuses and keeps shaking the fort until it falls from the tree, killing her and injuring Flo. Trees continue to play a role even after Sweetie's death, as her private interment is briefly disrupted by a tree root that obstructs her grave.

Louis and Kay get back together, while Kay's family achieves a sort of resolution. They no longer feel manipulated and agitated by Sweetie's presence. However, the best of her personality persists, as Kay and her parents maintain an image of her in her truest form, that of a little girl.

Cast

Production

Campion wanted to make a low-budget contemporary feature. She came up with the character of Sweetie and she and Gerard Lee started writing in February 1987 and finished in May. [3] The film was shot in Sydney. [4]

For both Lemon and Colston, Sweetie was their film acting debut. Both described an immediate connection to each other as well as to Campion, akin to a sisterly relationship. The production team itself was heavily dominated by women. [5]

Reception

Box office

Sweetie grossed $337,680 at the box office in Australia. [6]

Critical response

In Australian Film, 1978-1994, Sweetie is described as "a ghastly parody of the tyranny of family life". [7] Roger Ebert gave the film 3½ stars out of four, writing "[Sweetie] is a story with a realistic origin, told with a fresh and bold eye...Most movies slide right through our minds without hitting anything. This one screams and shouts every step of the way". [8]

In a 2015 review in The Guardian , Luke Buckmaster wrote, "The world of Sweetie – a beautifully strange and compelling film debut – is bent out of shape with almost intangibly subtle precision. Campion offsets what could have been a morose drama with an atmosphere that becomes increasingly, and unnervingly, mystical". [9]

The DVD and Blu-ray editions of the film, released by The Criterion Collection, include three of Campion's earlier short films: "An Exercise in Discipline: Peel", " Passionless Moments ", and "A Girl’s Own Story". [10]

Filmmaker Carol Morley, who has called Campion her greatest influence, cited Sweetie as her favourite film on an episode of Radio 4's The Film Programme . [11] Campion was a surprise guest on the programme and said Philip French of The Observer found the film "disgusting", and an Italian outlet asked her why she had to make a film that was "so dirty".

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>The Piano</i> 1993 film by Jane Campion

The Piano is a 1993 historical drama film written and directed by Jane Campion. It stars Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill, and Anna Paquin in her first major acting role. The film focuses on a mute Scottish woman who travels to a remote part of New Zealand with her young daughter after her arranged marriage to a frontiersman.

<i>The Umbrellas of Cherbourg</i> 1964 film by Jacques Demy

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is a 1964 musical romantic drama film written and directed by Jacques Demy, with music by Michel Legrand. Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castelnuovo star as two young lovers in the French city of Cherbourg, separated by circumstance. The film's dialogue is entirely sung as recitative, including casual conversation, and is sung-through, or through-composed, like some operas and stage musicals. It has been seen as the middle part of an informal "romantic trilogy" of Demy films that share some of the same actors, characters, and overall look, coming after Lola (1961) and before The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967). The French-language film was a co-production between France and West Germany.

<i>Paris, Texas</i> (film) 1984 film by Wim Wenders

Paris, Texas is a 1984 neo-Western drama road film directed by Wim Wenders, co-written by Sam Shepard and L. M. Kit Carson, and produced by Don Guest. It stars Harry Dean Stanton, Nastassja Kinski, Dean Stockwell, Aurore Clément, and Hunter Carson. In the film, disheveled recluse Travis Henderson (Stanton) reunites with his brother Walt (Stockwell) and son Hunter (Carson). Travis and Hunter embark on a trip through the American Southwest to track down Travis's missing wife, Jane (Kinski).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane Campion</span> New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer

Dame Elizabeth Jane Campion is a New Zealand filmmaker. She is best known for writing and directing the critically acclaimed films The Piano (1993) and The Power of the Dog (2021), for which she has received two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards. Campion was appointed a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (DNZM) in the 2016 New Year Honours, for services to film.

<i>An Angel at My Table</i> 1990 biographical drama film by Jane Campion

An Angel at My Table is a 1990 biographical drama film directed by Jane Campion. The film is based on Janet Frame's three autobiographies, To the Is-Land (1982), An Angel at My Table (1984), and The Envoy from Mirror City (1984). The film was very well received. It won awards at the New Zealand Film and Television awards, the Toronto International Film Festival, and second prize at the Venice Film Festival.

Genevieve Lemon is an Australian actress and singer who has appeared in a number of Australian television series and international film, including a frequent collaboration with Jane Campion for Academy Award-winning The Piano (1993) and The Power of the Dog (2021), which earned her a Satellite Award as cast member and a Critic's Choice Awards nomination. In television Lemon is best known as Zelda Baker in The Young Doctors, Marlene "Rabbit" Warren in Prisoner and Brenda Riley in Neighbours.

<i>Suburban Mayhem</i> 2006 film by Paul Goldman

Suburban Mayhem is a 2006 Australian film directed by Paul Goldman and written by Alice Bell. The film was produced by Leah Churchill-Brown, with Jan Chapman as executive producer. The ensemble cast includes Emily Barclay, Michael Dorman, Anthony Hayes, Steve Bastoni, Mia Wasikowska and Genevieve Lemon. Filming locations included Sydney and Newcastle, Australia.

Alison Maclean is a Canadian-New Zealand film director of music videos, short films, television, commercials and feature films. Her works include the music video "Torn", the short film Kitchen Sink (1989) and the feature films Jesus' Son (1999) and Crush (1992). She has been the recipient of several awards, and often uses themes of communication, gender roles, and power structures in her directorial and filmmaking roles.

<i>To Each His Own Cinema</i> 2007 French film

To Each His Own Cinema is a 2007 French comedy-drama anthology film commissioned for the 60th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival. The film is a collection of 34 short films, each 3 minutes in length, by 36 acclaimed directors. Representing five continents and 25 countries, the filmmakers were invited to express "their state of mind of the moment as inspired by the motion picture theatre".

<i>My Brilliant Career</i> (film) 1979 Australian film

My Brilliant Career is a 1979 Australian period drama film directed by Gillian Armstrong, and starring Judy Davis, Sam Neill, and Wendy Hughes. Based on the 1901 novel of the same name by Miles Franklin, it follows a young woman in rural, late-19th-century Australia whose aspirations to become a writer are impeded first by her social circumstance, and later by a budding romance.

<i>Bright Star</i> (film) 2009 British film

Bright Star is a 2009 biographical romantic drama film, written and directed by Jane Campion. It is based on the last three years of the life of poet John Keats and his romantic relationship with Fanny Brawne. Campion's screenplay was inspired by a 1997 biography of Keats by Andrew Motion, who served as a script consultant.

<i>Soft Fruit</i> 1999 Australian film

Soft Fruit is a 1999 comedy drama film about a dying mother and her children who come together to fulfill her last wishes. It is an Australian American co-production produced by New Zealand filmmaker Jane Campion and directed by Christina Andreef.

Gerard Lee is an Australian novelist, screenwriter, and director.

Alice Allegra Englert is an Australian actress, director, writer, singer, and songwriter. She is best known for her roles as Rosa in the film Ginger & Rosa (2012) and Lena Duchannes in the film Beautiful Creatures (2013).

<i>Top of the Lake</i> Australian television series

Top of the Lake is a mystery drama television series created and written by Jane Campion and Gerard Lee, and directed by Campion and Garth Davis. It was broadcast in 2013, and the sequel, entitled Top of the Lake: China Girl, in 2017. It is Campion's first work for television since An Angel at My Table in 1990.

Café of the Gate of Salvation is a non-denominational a cappella gospel choir based in Sydney. Formed by musical director Tony Backhouse they are named after a cafe in Istanbul. Their album A Window in Heaven was nominated for ARIA Award for Best World Music Album.

<i>The Power of the Dog</i> (film) 2021 Western drama film by Jane Campion

The Power of the Dog is a 2021 Western psychological drama film written and directed by Jane Campion. It is based on Thomas Savage's 1967 novel of the same title. The film stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, and Kodi Smit-McPhee. Set in Montana but shot mostly within rural Otago, the film is an international co-production among New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia.

<i>The Dry</i> (film) 2020 Australian mystery drama film

The Dry is a 2020 Australian mystery drama thriller film directed by Robert Connolly, from a screenplay by Connolly and Harry Cripps, and is based on the 2016 book of the same name by Jane Harper. The film stars Eric Bana, Genevieve O'Reilly, Keir O'Donnell and John Polson.

John Maynard is an Australian film producer and film distributor who also played an important role in the development of New Zealand art museums.

References

  1. ↑ "Festival de Cannes: Sweetie". festival-cannes.com. Archived from the original on 8 February 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2009.
  2. ↑ "Ten Groundbreaking Film Independent Spirit Awards Wins". Film Independent . 19 November 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  3. ↑ Hawker, Philippa (May 1989). "Jane Campion". Cinema Papers . pp. 29–30. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
  4. ↑ "Sweetie - Production Details". Ozmovies. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  5. ↑ "Making "Sweetie" (Geneviève Lemon, Karen Colston)". Sweetie (DVD). The Criterion Collection. 24 October 2006.
  6. ↑ "Australian Films at the Australian Box Office" (PDF). Film Victoria. p. 21. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 March 2011.
  7. ↑ Murray, Scott, ed. (1995). Australian Film, 1978-1994. Oxford. ISBN   0-19-553777-7.
  8. ↑ Ebert, Roger (23 March 1990). "Sweetie movie review (1990)". Rogerebert.com . Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  9. ↑ Buckmaster, Luke (15 January 2015). "Sweetie rewatched – Jane Campion's beautifully strange film debut". The Guardian . Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  10. ↑ "Sweetie (1989)". The Criterion Collection .
  11. ↑ "The Film Programme - Moving Image: Carol Morley on Jane Campion - BBC Sounds". BBC . 25 October 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.