Sweetie (1990)

Based solely on a tea leaf reading, superstitious and introspective Kay believes she and Louis are destined to fall in love with each other, he who she is able to convince of the same despite he just having gotten engaged to her co-worker, Cheryl. That destiny may change with the fortunes of what she sees as the next symbol of their relationship, a somewhat sickly elder tree Louis plants in their garden for their one year anniversary.This is Jane Campion's first feature, and her best. Some might point to "Angel at my Table", but I personally thought that film was terrible. "Sweetie" is funny, and has an interesting sense about it. One might even call it quirky, but it never quite goes full-quirky, keeping one foot firmly in the real world. It is sort of like Wes Anderson lite, and one has to wonder if he didn't draw some influence from Campion.

I just saw this as a new release on DVD. Usually I like Jane Campion. But this was way off. It was extremely hard to get through, and was in general just so strange. The acting was mediocre. If I was in a theater I would have walked out in the first half hour. The first 5 minutes seemed interesting especially the music, but as soon as the main character steals the boyfriends newly planted tree the picture quickly dies. Adding the severely psychotic sister to the movie just throws a massive curve ball to the movie. Yes Sweetie is somewhat key to the movie and it's titled after her, but showing 5-6 of her fits got to be too redundant.

This film is one of the best films ever written and shot about the effects of mental illness on the psycho-dynamics of a family. Shot with a strongly claustrophobic sense of misé-en-scene, the extended family of Louis, Mom, Dad, Kay and Sweetie always crowd and clutter the frame, unable to extricate themselves physically and emotionally from one another. Geneviève Lemon's performance of a mentally ill young women (Sweetie/Dawn) sends chills up the spine of anyone who has worked with those who suffer like this. Although it does contain some nudity and slight sexual content, the dramatic push of the film as a whole makes this an extremely moving film even for teenagers, especially for families who are coping with mental illness. Campion's writing and above all her directing soars in this profound and compelling film.

Sort of a watered-down John Waters-type movie, this Australian film is not for everyone's taste. Talk about a dysfunctional family: Kay is a cold fish who steals a man who just announced his engagement to someone else, all because of a fortune-teller. "Sweetie", her younger sister, is a nymphomaniac, mentally unstable, selfish, and seemingly has the mind of a spoiled little brat. Her parents try to act as if all is not as bad as it seems. But life sucks in this family. I wondered how, with two seemingly "normal" parents, these two girls ended up the way they did. Guess it happens all the time, though.