Holy Smoke

Starring: Harvey Keitel, Kate Winslet Director: Jane Campion Original UK Premiere: 2000 Dvd Release: 1st May, 2002 Number Of Discs: 1 Format: Anamorphic, PAL, Widescreen, Region 2 Encoding

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DVD Extras: Holy Smoke sees good overall quality of the 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer, with the graininess coming from the film rather than the transfer. The soundtrack is rich, but what really raises this DVD above mediocrity though is the commentary track. Winslet & cowriter Anna Campion are given free reign to talk about their experiences of filming Holy Smoke as well as their thoughts on India, cults & nudity. The result is always interesting, often entertaining & fans of Winslet will fall in love with the graceful star all over again.

New Zealand film director Jane Campion is one of a kind. Forget money & fame; shes inspired by the pleasure of sharing her cinematic dreams with friends & film audiences. Her globetrotting heroines may be wilful, crazed, self-absorbed, wrong, but who can resist joining these passionate women on their voyages of self-discovery, whether they lead to safe harbour or a dead end?

Holy Smoke opens deliriously in a magical India, saturated with light, colour, sensuality. Celebrated by Neil Diamonds opening anthem, Holly Holy, Ruth Baron explores a world that encourages spiritual epiphany, & 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 to cure Ruth. In an isolated Outback shack, the two of them wrestle each other for control of their souls, & bodies, too. This duels in deadly earnest: Ruth assaults Waterss petrified masculinity; PJ aims to strip this radiant girl of her unexamined faith.

Their wild ride, funny, brutal, erotic, towards 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 & beauty, Holy Smoke is a feast for the eyes & mind.

Harvey Keitel. The son of a Polish mother & Romanian father, he spent most of his youth on the streets of New York City. At the age of 16, Keitel decided to join the United States Marine Corps, a decision which took him to Lebanon. After his return to the United States, he floundered for a while in mediocre jobs before beginning his acting career. Keitel studied under both Stella Adler & Lee Strasberg, eventually landing roles in some off-Broadway productions. During this time, Keitel met another struggling filmaker named Martin Scorsese & gained a part in Scorseses student production. Since then both Scorsese & Keitel have worked together on numerous projects. Throughout the 1980s, Keitel continued to find plenty of work, but it was usually in the stereotypical role of a thug. In 1993, however, Keitel worked to change his image after choosing to co-star in Jane Campion s The Piano & later, as the lead, in Abel Ferraras graphic masterpiece, Bad Lieutenant. Posters Of Harvey Keitel

Editors Choice: Shadows In The Sun, Nailed, Taking Sides, Holy Smoke, Lulu On The Bridge, The Piano, Bad Lieutenant, Finding Graceland, View DVDology

Kate Elizabeth Winslet is a British actress most famous for her role in the 1997 blockbuster movie Titanic. She was born in Reading, Berkshire, England. Her career began on television, with an appearance in an episode of the BBC medical drama Casualty in 1989, followed by a co-starring role in the childrens science-fiction serial Dark Season two years later, also for the BBC. Her film career took off in 1994 when she performed her first leading role as Juliet Hulme in Peter Jackson s Heavenly Creatures. Since then she has acted in several films, such as Sense & Sensibility, Jude, A Kid in King Arthurs Court, Titanic, Hamlet, Hideous Kinky, Holy Smoke, Iris, The Life of David Gale, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Finding Neverland & Romance & Cigarettes earning her three Oscar nominations & two Golden Globes. The Movie soundtrack. On November 22, 1998 she married director Jim Threapleton with whom she has a daughter named Mia Honey. After her divorce in 2001, she began a relationship with director Sam Mendes. Posters Of Kate Winslet

Editors Choice: Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, Finding Neverland, The Life Of David Gale, Holy Smoke, Hideous Kinky, Titanic, Enigma, Jude, View DVDology

Jane Campion is a film director. She is one of the most internationally successful New Zealand directors, although she claims not to identify closely with that country & most of her work has been made in or financed by other countries, principally Australia & the USA. She came to prominence with the Oscar-nominated The Piano but her subsequent, more experimental & abrasive work has been less popular with the public. Campion is one of the few successful female directors who can be labelled an auteur & also one of the few whose work could be called feminist ; her films are typically concerned with women in situations of oppression or restriction. However, Campions work has often been criticised by feminists who are disappointed by Campions recurrent theme of an oppressed female protagonist finding solace in a domineering male lover. The Portrait of a Lady - based on the novel by Henry James. An Angel at My Table - based on the autobiography by Janet Frame. Posters Of Holy Smoke

Editors Choice: In The Cut, Portrait Of A Lady, Holy Smoke, The Piano, An Angel At My Table, The Portrait Of A Lady, View DVDology

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