Sweetie

Picture the following: a heavyset woman has smeared paint all over her naked body, taken refuge in her childhood treehouse and, when her father climbs the ladder beseeching her to come down, proudly breaks wind in his face. I think it's safe to say that Sweetie is not your ordinary movie about ordinary people. Winner of Best Picture and Best Director awards from the Australian Film Critics Circle, this black comedy from down under is the directorial debut of Jane Campion--an imp of the perverse who's obviously studied David Lynch's (Blue Velvet) work. A fairy tale of sorts, the story follows the relationship between a pair of very different sisters. There is Kay (Karen Colston)--not Daddy's favorite-- who has grown up to be a superstitious, sexually repressed woman with an abhorrence for trees; and the wildly extroverted Sweetie (Genevieve Lemon), for whom the family had high hopes as an entertainer (she can still stand on a chair and tip it over without falling herself for as long as anyone will watch), but Daddy's princess never quite hit the big time. When Sweetie suddenly shows up at Kay and her new boyfriend's house, and their father knocks on the door after their mother has left him, the sisters prepare to butt heads. As sibling rivalry films go, this one is, admittedly, a little to the right of infinity. Shocking, surreal, and darkly comic, admirers of the film will really like it, whereas those who hate it will really hate it. Take a chance. Recommended. (R. Pitman) [DVD Review—Oct. 31, 2006—Criterion, 99 min., R, $39.95—Making its first appearance on DVD, 1989's Sweetie boasts a great transfer and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. DVD extras include an audio commentary (by co-writer/director Jane Campion, screenwriter Gerard Lee, and cinematographer Sally Bongers), three short films by Campion: 'A Girl's Own Story' (27 min.), 'Passionless Moments' (12 min.), and 'An Exercise in Discipline: Peel' (9 min.), a 23-minute 'making-of' featurette, a 1989 'Jane Campion: The Film School Years' archival interview (19 min.), a production gallery, a new essay by film scholar Dana Polan, and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for Campion's outrageously perverse directorial debut.] [Blu-ray Review—Apr. 26, 2011—Criterion, 99 min., not rated, $39.95—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 1989's Sweetie sports a great transfer with DTS-HD sound. Blu-ray extras are identical to those on the standard DVD release, including audio commentary by co-writer/director Jane Campion, screenwriter Gerard Lee, and cinematographer Sally Bongers; the 1989 archival interview 'Jane Campion: The Film School Years' (19 min.); three short films by Campion: 1984's 'A Girl's Own Story' (27 min.), 1983's 'Passionless Moments' (12 min.), and 1982's 'An Exercise in Discipline: Peel' (9 min.); a 23-minute 'making-of' featurette; a production gallery; a new essay by film scholar Dana Polan; and trailers. Bottom line: a fine Blu-ray debut for a winning film.]