Sweetie (1989)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Jane Campion

Writers:

Jane Campion (screenplay)
Jane Campion (story)

Release Date:

28 September 1989 (Australia)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Explores sisters, in their twenties, their parents, and family dysfunctions. Kay is gangly and slightly askew...

Plot Keywords:

Dysfunctional Family | Favorite Sibling | Australia | Family Relationships | Transcendental Meditation

Awards:

2 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Geneviève Lemon	...	Dawn aka Sweetie
Karen Colston	...	Kay
Tom Lycos	...	Louis
Jon Darling	...	Gordon
Dorothy Barry	...	Flo
Michael Lake	...	Bob
Andre Pataczek	...	Clayton
Jean Hadgraft	...	Mrs. Schneller
Paul Livingston	...	Teddy Schneller
Louise Fox	...	Cheryl
Ann Merchant	...	Paula
Robyn Frank	...	Ruth (as Robin Frank)
Bronwyn Morgan	...	Sue
Sean Fennell	...	Boy clerk
Sean Callinan	...	Simboo

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Singapore:M18 | Australia:M | Finland:K-12 | Portugal:M/12 | Sweden:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Company:

Arenafilm

Soundtrack:

There's a Love that Waits for You

quirky psychoanalysis of two sisters

Quite a dark film that seems to lack the catharsis (or uplifting tones) of the later Campion's films. The film concentrates on psychological problems of Kay, strange, detached young women which, seemingly calm and shy, is able to shamelessly steal a just-engaged man from his fiancee. Kay's life with the boyfriend, however, turns out to be far from happy. What does she want? We do not know that until her younger sister Dawn, aka Sweetie, appears on the scene almost halfway through the film. Dawn has apparently been a spoiled baby in the family. The father even now speaks about her "talents", although he too must see that, in reality, she is a mentally handicapped person whose intellectual and emotional development has been arrested at the level of a 4-year old. Sometimes she is charming, sometimes threatening, but, most importantly, she is uninhibited and free (among other things, free to act on her whims). With the arrival of Dawn, Kay's great animosity towards her sister is immediately apparent. Instead of help and compassion of a "normal" older sister she only offers criticism and open hatred. Little by little we find what Kay wants: she wants to be Dawn. She wants to lose her repressions, she wants to be loved, admired and always forgiven, no matter what she does. Deep psychological analysis of abnormal relations between sisters reminds me of some Ingmar Bergman's works although "Sweetie" does not have the nordic broodiness.