Holy Smoke

A Review by 'Paul Fischer'

Australian Ruth (Kate Winslet) goes to India and falls under the influence of Baba, the spiritual leader of a religious cult. When she informs her parents back home that she plans to stay with Baba, her concerned mother (Julie Hamilton) heads for India. She finds Ruth and tells her that her father is dying. Ruth reluctantly returns home and is outraged to find that she has been deceived. On top of this, her parents have hired PJ Waters (Harvey Keitel), a professional cult buster, to bring her back to her senses. A ferocious battle of wills ensues between these two stubborn souls. It's easy to understand why Jane Campion's latest film has become so divisive. Critics are intent on taking her latest film oh so seriously. When it comes down to it, Holy Smoke is an irreverent comment on sexual politics and power, and at last, Campion has decided not to take herself - or her visions too seriously. This is a far more interesting and original work than her previous two films, and like The Piano, it's likely to cause considerable comment. While Piano seemed to be such an alienating experience, Campion and her co-writer on this, sister Anna, have scripted a piece complete with a self-deprecating sense of humour. While they don't parody some of the film's important elements by any means, they certainly treat much of its spirituality , for instance, with a deft degree of slyness. Perhaps being older and wiser have made Campion a more interesting storyteller, and Holy Smoke invites us back to the world of Sweetie, but with even more depth and visual flair that was apparent with that breakthrough film.

To begin with, on a purely visual level, Holy Smoke is the year's richest work, a sublime conglomeration of vivid colours, which beautifully represent the divided cultures that Campion strikingly explores. The stark browns of the harsh Australian desert are a counterpoint to the idealistic brightness of India, which opens the film. Director of photography Dion Beebe has encapsulated so perfectly the diversity of Campion's vision. It's an exquisitely textured film, and cinematically, Campion's most mature work. At the same time, as visually hypnotic as the film is, that aspect of Holy Smoke doesn't detract from her detailed sense of character and theme. The film is intrinsically a two-hander, and Campion's skilful casting of Kate Winslet and Harvey Keitel, ensures that her comment on sexual power is compelling. And it is. The characters are both fascinating to watch and listen, and what one sees is never what one gets, which makes Holy Smoke a persuasive film to sit through. The film's exploration of sexuality and the role of men and women become both sexy and funny, erotic and intense, and always intriguing. These aspects of the film are in stark contrast to Campion's droll satire of Australian suburbia and the nature of family, themes she initiated with Sweetie. Winslet gives her best performance to date here. At times tough, fragile, sexual, uncompromising and bold, she is totally absorbing as a young woman in search of herself and her identity. As an Australian character, the actress fits into the mould like a glove, and never fails to convince us that she's an Aussie. Keitel is always memorable, and here, he delivers another remarkable, audacious and unexpectedly moving, performance.

In lesser but fun roles, the delightfully effervescent Sophie Lee once again delivers the comedic goods as a frustrated housewife, who fantasises about making love to film stars, while as the parents, Julie Hamilton and Tim Robertson are sublime.

As quintessentially Australian as elements of Holy Smoke is, the film is her most accessible. With a ferocious humour and dramatic intensity rarely seen, this is Campion's most engaging, most human and most deliciously entertaining film to date. It may be confronting at times, but don't take the director's vision too seriously; then you'll enjoy the ride.