Holy Smoke Movie Review 1999

Free-spirited Ruth (Winslet) travels to India and finds would-be spiritual enlightenment with an Indian guru. Her behavior terrifies her parents and her mother (Hamilton) manages to lure Ruth back home to Australia. They've hired American cult specialist, macho PJ Waters (Keitel), to rescue and deprogram her. Isolated in the Australian bush, the balance of power between Ruth and PJ begins to shift as sexual obsession takes hold. Complex characters but the strident storytelling gets annoying and some scenes seem staged for needless shock value. Based on the novel by the Campion sisters.

Distribution

Not Yet Released

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 114 minutes.
Originally from Australian.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Cults, Down Under, Family Ties, Sex & Sexuality

Screenplay

Jane Campion, Anna Campion

Cast

Harvey Keitel, Kate Winslet, Julie Hamilton, Tim Robertson, Sophie Lee, Pam Grier, Paul Goddard, Daniel Wyllie

Cinematography

Dion Beebe

Director

Jane Campion

Music

Angelo Badalamenti

Producer

Jan Chapman, Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, Julie Goldstein, Miramax Films