|
Holy Smoke! (Widescreen) | 
| Director: Jane Campion
Actors: Kate Winslet, Harvey Keitel, Pam Grier, Julie Hamilton, Tim Robertson
Studio: Miramax
Category: DVD
List Price: CDN$ 12.31
Buy New: CDN$ 7.83
You Save: CDN$ 4.48 (36%)
New (14) Used (4) from CDN$ 7.83
Rating:  8 reviews
Format: Import, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5 x 0.6
MPN: DISD18293D
ISBN: 0788818244
UPC: 717951004796
EAN: 9780788818240
ASIN: B00003CWRC
Theatrical Release Date: 1999
Release Date: August 8, 2000
Availability: Usually ships within 1 - 2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW items direct from the USA. Please allow 8 to 12 business days for delivery. Customs charges may apply.
| |
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
From Amazon.com
Aussie director Jane Campion's one of a kind. Forget money and fame; she's inspired by the pleasure of sharing her cinematic dreams with friends and film audiences. Her globetrotting heroines (IAngel at My Table/I, IThe Piano/I, IPortrait of a Lady/I) may be willful, crazed, self-absorbed, wrong--but who can resist joining these passionate women on their voyages of self-discovery, whether they lead to safe harbor or dead end?p IHoly Smoke/I opens deliriously in a magical India, saturated with light, color, sensuality. Celebrated by Neil Diamond's anthem, "Holly Holy," Ruth Baron (Kate Winslet, delivering a breathtakingly luminous performance) explores a world that encourages spiritual epiphany--and falls hard for the cartoonish guru who opens her "third eye." Back home in Australia, her hilariously dysfunctional, distinctly down-to-earth family hires hotshot deprogrammer PJ Waters (Harvey Keitel, his dyed hair and cowboy boots telegraphing desperate machismo) to cure Ruth. In an isolated Outback shack, Campion's duo wrestle each other for control of their souls--and bodies, too. This duel's in deadly earnest: Ruth assaults Waters's petrified masculinity; PJ aims to strip this radiant girl of her unexamined faith. p Their wild ride--funny, brutal, erotic--toward brand-new selfhood is punctuated by indelible images: Ruth dancing in a white sari beside an emu corral; naked in the night, Ruth offering her lush body to her tormentor; lost in the desert, cross-dressed in red gown, PJ "saved" by a golden vision of Ruth as a magnificent Indian goddess. For those who love the way movies can sometimes project truth and beauty, IHoly Smoke/I is a feast for the eyes--and for the mind. I--Kathleen Murphy/I
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 Excellent acting performances, but story totally sucks August 26, 2008
Frejya Evenstar (Calgary, Alberta)
I gave this movie 2 stars because of Kate Winslet's and Harvey Keitel's excellent acting - they are 2 very accomplished actors, for sure. br / br /Kate is a young woman who joins an ashram in India and her family hire Harvey, an experienced cult deprogrammer, to deprogram her. They spend a few days alone in an isolated cabin and end up getting sexual with eachother. br / br /As I said, Kate's and Harvey's acting was great - but I found the messy dysfunctionalness with all the supporting characters and the whole storyline disturbing rather than funny and did NOT want Kate Winslet's character to be deprogrammed because her family was far more hurtful to her than the ashram she was indoctrinated into could be. br / br /Another reviewer said "am I a prude?" and I am asking myself the same thing - I found the sexual relationship between Kate and Harvey disturbing and it didn't make sense to me at all. Do people really totally berate eachother, call eachother names, etc. and then have sex and fall in love with eacher? Does that happen in real life? I hope not. Of course this is a movie, not real life. I do think the sex at the end was way over the top and overdone, however. br / br /Overall, in my opinion, this movie had excellent acting, but a terrible story line that went all sideways at the end and ended up with no credibility at all. br / br /If you enjoy watching intelligent acting, dysfunctional families and kinky sex you may like this movie - but I can only take so much of that type of thing and it was not my cup of tea.
 I won't say where the smoke is being blown... June 7, 2004
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This film starts out so promising. It could have been a punchy dramatic piece about the nature of belief, and the legitimacy of the concept of free will. Instead, the characters dribble into infantile sexuality, and the film becomes a travelog. I can't believe this film found financing...a real waste of obvious talent. The effect of the ending is to trivialise the opening premise, hence the film winds up being an exercise in meaninglessness with an unpleasant aftertaste.
Off to a great start then ran amok March 14, 2004
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Maybe I'm a prude?pI thought the idea of a family kidnapping their daughter back from an Ashram in India and having her "deprogrammed" by Harvey Keitel was great and the movie started out great but it really derailed as the sexual relationship between the deprogrammer and deprogrammee developed.pI found the last 20 minutes uncomfortable to sit through.
 holy mackerel February 12, 2004
moongrenadine (high point, NC)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
there are many reasons to perhaps watch holy smoke even respect campions' work although this is far from her best in my opinion. overall, i really did enjoy this film but some of the scenes are a tad bit silly don't really enhance what could've been a brilliant film. holy smoke opens up with some beautifully photographed scenes in india amidst neil diamond's classic song "holly holy". pretty classy if i do say so myself. in the next couple of scenes, a friend of ruth's informes a family that their daughter has been brainwashed by a guru which is cause for the mother to make a trip herself to india in hopes of bringing the impressionable young woman back to her happy home in australia. the scenes between mum daughter are witty, intelligient, very clever indeed i''ll be the first to admit. next, we are introduced to the family of somewhat lovable misfits we are lead to believe that ruth(kate winslet) is perhaps the most sane one of them all. as you've probably heard, ruth's mother hires a deprogrammer(played brilliantly by mr.keitel) who agrees to try help the young girl in a remote cabin somewhere in australia. the film is a bit sluggish from that point on although there are some hilarious scenes with ruth the deprogrammer battling it out verbally. the best scenes are close to the end in which ruth has nearly wrapped poor keitel around her finger. we get to see her dress him in women's clothing, putting on the lipstick, he allows all this with no resisitance. what i like best about holy smoke is the mere fact you never know exactly what to expect where all the events will take you. the ideas here are certainly creative the ending is definately a hoot but this film is far from being the masterpiece campion gave us with the piano back in the early ninities. holy smoke is definately worth a look but you may wish to rent before purchasing. if you do decide to purchase this dvd, look for a reasonable used copy.
A MESS OF A BRILLIANT IDEA, BUT A WORTHY AND WATCHABLE ONE.. January 28, 2004
Shashank Tripathi (Gadabout)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Jane Campion rides a slippery slope: an Australian woman (Winslet) visits India and becomes indoctrinated with a cult. Sounds like a sombre enough subject, but not in the hands of Campion. pWe are served instead a slightly more doozy fare: a part satire, part romantic comedy, part drama and part...ahem...soft porn. There's a good deal of nudity here, and if you are a Harvey Keitel fan, that could be reason alone to grab a copy of this. Truth be told, Keitel is in fact almost embarrassing, especially towards the tail of the movie, which he spends mostly wearing a dress (don't ask.) pVisual splendour of other forms abounds as well. The film sports some gorgeous shots of the Australian outback and Indian pilgrimage towns. Not that any of this really does much to the bizarre deprogramming dialogue. pIf anything saves this movie it has to be one of a couple of things: p(1) Kate Winslet, who is not only very beautiful and sensual, she also lends a great deal of comic credibility to her role.p(2) The second thing that no reviewers here seem to have noticed is THE mindblowing SOUNDTRACK!pOverall the movie is somewhat of a mess with a highly implausible denouement twist, but its probably a worthy ride for Winslet/Keitel fans. pRecommended rental.
|
|
|
|
| |
