Hideous Kinky
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Movie Reviews of Hideous Kinky
Movie Review: Beauty and chaos
Summary: 5 Stars
"Hideous Kinky" are the first and last words spoken in this film. No, the movie is not about sex, it's based on Esther Freud's autobiographical novel (yes, that Freud) about nomadic life in Northern Africa in 1972. The title, "Hideous Kinky" is the name of a game the young girls play, much like tag. The very beautiful Kate Winslet plays Julia, mother of two, who drags her two children, Bea and Lucy from London, England in search of a more free and spiritual life. The story is narrated time to time by Bea, the eldest daughter.Julia is married to an English poet and writer, better known to them as the ultimate dead-beat Dad. From small clues, we gather that he is adultrous, a bit of a wash-up, and only offers support to the small family with checks, that rarely arrive when needed.
Julia lives meagerly, selling dolls to support herself, but this occupation seems as pitiful as standing on a street corner asking for charity. Her existense is ironic. She and her girls live in a tiny, broken down, prostitute hang-out apartment with little clothing, money, or clean water. They live day by day in search of money or the next charitable helper. While her life seems desperate and chaotic, she is surrounded by some of the most beautiful and colorful culture in the world. Perhaps this is why Julia can not give up her nomadic lifestyle. The cities of Morocco are too enchanting to leave. I found myself constantly asking "Is it worth it? What are they gaining?"
She admits to others she has chosen this life. She doesn't want the normalcy of a one room London flat and TV ringing through her children's ears night and day. Instead, in Morocco, she hopes to find keys to a happier afterlife, one with no pain or suffering...but WHO is she living this life for? Her family, or herself? On her quest she encounters romance, spiritual obstacles, and loss. Julia is challenged to choose between her beloved new country or face the "real world" back home. This is not a movie about a young woman's struggle, rather the relationships she has with her lover, children and others that open new and different doors and opportunities.
The movie is so visually stunning, you can't help but look at the Marrakech markets and think you might be smelling spices and tasting exotic things. The cinematography really brings you up-close to Julia's lush surroundings. I highly recommend this movie to travelers, romantics, and anyone who loves finding that really spectacular flick that most look over at the video store.
Movie Review: A seductive look at the desert
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the most refreshing "desert" movies I have seen in a long time. It does stretch one's ideas about a single mother running around the desert with two children and being that safe everywhere she goes. This Gillies MacKinnon movie about a single mother (Kate Winslet) and her identity-seeking hiatus around Morocco in the hippie days of the early 1970s, moves along the path most taken: a soul-searching trip to an idealized Orient. Hideous Kinky is loosely based on Esther Freud's novel. I'm certain that the experience was real enough for her but it really misses on a few key safety issues of modern day travel. Kate Winslet is wonderful (and her two young co-stars are adorable) and comes back with much more than dust in her sandals - she is transformed. Westerners who take these soul searching trips to exotic lands themed stories gives cinematographers license go to town. The old world landmarks are wonderful and the old men whose silences speak volumes is pure Orientalism (see Edward Said's "Orientalism" also available on Amazon.com). Those romantic dusty landscapes at sunrise are sure to draw in the desert lovers like myself. The ruins, the mosques, the Bedouin tent, all giving off a sense of ancient mystery. Is it really just "Orientalism"? Things is, it beats "The Sheltering Sky" with its rustic charm and light manner. The outward portion of the story is great but it betrays a deeper, more soulful deliberation. Stories like this are meant to be an "inward odysseys", in which the protagonist releases torments that are alive and well "at home" - and that is the crux - there is a "home." Bea (Bella Riza) and Lucy (Carrie Mullan) and the mother to Julia (Winslet), revels in Marrakech together with Bilal (Said Taghmaoui), who becomes Julia's lover. "Hideous Kinky" is a pastiche of "episodes" leaving us to imagine or figure out for ourselves the internal changes. The phrase "hideous kinky" is not a teaser but a catch all phrase by two young ones that could mean absolutely anything. Watch it with a tinge of cynicism - since the beauty of the landscape, the children and the promise of liberation are all seductive. Is it all "Orientalism"?Miguel Llora
Movie Review: QUIRKY AND ABSORBING FILM...
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a wonderful film with stellar performances by the entire cast. It is about a young woman's quest for the meaning of life. Taking place in the early 1970s, it is very reminiscent of an era now passed, an era when "flower power" was the rule of the day. Here, Kate Winslet plays Julia, a twenty five year old young mother of two children, nine year old Bea, stunningly acted by Bella Riza, and her younger sister, Lucy, charmingly played by Carrie Mullen. They abandon their structured, staid life in London, when Julia decides to leave their father to go to Marrakech in Morocco, then the capitol of the disaffected, in search of spiritual enlightenment.
Taking her children, Julia goes on an adventure, an adventure to which Lucy, the younger of her two daughters, takes to almost immediately. Nine year old Bea, on the other hand, begins to yearn for a more "normal", structured life. Julia, however, will have none of it. Living in a Moroccan slum with her girls, she romanticizes their existence.
Julia becomes involved with Bilal, a street performer of sorts, who looks out for them. Wonderfully acted by Said Taghemaoui, Bilal charms Julia and her daughters. He cannot, however, support them, and they cannot support themselves. This becomes clear as they begin a rag tag journey into the Moroccan country side.
Sooner, rather than later, reality sets in. The adventure wears thin on Bea who becomes estranged from her mother. The harsh reality of every day life confronts Julia, who ultimately realizes that traipsing around Morocco just puts her young daughters at risk. Unfortuntely, this realization does not occur to her until she almost loses Bea to illness. It is then that Bilal steps up to home plate and gives them the means to return. They leave Marrakech to begin their journey home, taking with them enough memories to last a lifetime.
This is a wonderful movie with exceptional cinematography. A virtual travelogue of Moroccan life, it is a visual feast that is sure to delight those who have a hankering for faraway, exotic places and a thirst for adventure.
Movie Review: "The Truth Is A Man Standing Upright In The Sun" ~ Duties And Passing Pleasures On The Road To Annihilation
Summary: 5 Stars
Synopsis: Set in the year 1972 in Marrakech, Morocco we find twenty-five year old British hippie Julia (Kate Winslet) wandering about Marrakech with her two young daughters. Tired of the sameness of everyday life she has left the father of her children behind in London in search of "something different" for the children and herself in North Africa.
Julia and the girls wander about the exotic landscape interacting with the locals, other occidental fellow seekers and an occasional British ex-patriot or two. She becomes involved in a romantic interlude with a street performer named Bilal (Said Taqhmaoui) but her real quest is not to find another man, but to discover the Truth (yes, with a capital T). She hopes what she is looking for will be revealed to her by the resident leader of a group of Sufi's, a sect of Islamic mystics flourishing in the area. The only question is whether or not she's ready for the answer?
Critique: `Hideous Kinky' released in '99 is an exquisite film that insightfully captures the innate human desire to find some form of spiritual underpinning in life to counterbalance a mundane world consisting of nothing more than duties and passing pleasures. The film takes the viewer on a slow, meandering, hypnotic journey through the cities and countryside of Morocco. The goal of the storyline is at times unclear, but then so is any true spiritual journey. And like any real quest for truth the answers one receives are generally not answers at all, only more questions. It's this ambiguity of thought and motion that is the real beauty and message of this mesmerizing film. The amazing scenery coupled with a soundtrack consisting of late `60's, early `70's pop tunes interspersed between African rhythms and Sufi trance music make for a magical mystery tour to another world.
Recommendation: This film belongs in your permanent DVD collection.
Movie Review: Beautiful and mystical
Summary: 5 Stars
Titanic was the first movie I saw Kate Winslet in, and while the movie really impressed me, the press surrounding it turned me off both of the lead actors.The great cover design caused me to pick up "Hideous Kinky" in the video store on 5 seperate occasions before I finally rented it. It turned out to be one of the most beautiful adventure movies I've seen. The next day I bought the DVD.
Hideous Kinky (I still haven't figured out exactly what that means) has the patient cinematography of a foreign film, great supporting actors (including the kids), and Kate plays her naive character in such a beautiful and natural way that I now have full respect for her as an actor (a respect which was reinforced after seeing "Holy Smoke").
As for the actual DVD features, well there aren't any. The production quality is nice and crisp though... and on a movie like this, that's really the best feature.