Ruth's been brainwashed by a guru in Delhi, India. Her parents in Sydney hire a specialist in reversing this. Ruth is tricked to return to Australia and is isolated in an outback cabin with ... Read allRuth's been brainwashed by a guru in Delhi, India. Her parents in Sydney hire a specialist in reversing this. Ruth is tricked to return to Australia and is isolated in an outback cabin with the specialist. It gets messy.Ruth's been brainwashed by a guru in Delhi, India. Her parents in Sydney hire a specialist in reversing this. Ruth is tricked to return to Australia and is isolated in an outback cabin with the specialist. It gets messy.
- Awards
- 2 wins & 3 nominations
- Yani
- (as George Mangos)
- Bill-Bill
- (as Leslie Dayman)
- Stan
- (as Austen Tayshus)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaKate Winslet has stated in interviews that working on this film led to a humorous incident where Harvey Keitel wanted to improvise to create more intimacy between their two characters. Keitel proceeded to get on the floor and act like a dog, asking Winslet to be his owner who was helping him to die. Winslet initially took it as a joke, but once she realized Keitel was serious she carried on with it just as he asked.
- GoofsWhen at first Ruth is in the middle of a circle of her relatives, she has a jewel in the middle of her forehead. Then the jewel disappears for a while and then reappears for the remainder of the scene.
- Quotes
PJ: I don't hate women. I love ladies.
Ruth Barron: Ha! Ladies! You wouldn't know any. I bet you date little Barbie dolls, don't you? "Oh, you're so brainy, you're so big! Can I suck your dick?" Can I be alone now?
- Alternate versionsThe sex scene between Keitel and Winslet has been trimmed in the U.S version. On the Australian VHS, Keitel is seen putting himself between Winslet's legs and reaching down to his crotch before thrusting. As they are making love, Winslet says "Don't come, don't come", then there is the sound of Keitel doing so. He stops, and Winslet moans for a bit before the film cuts to the next scene. In the U.S version, they trim Keitel getting inbetween her legs and reaching for his crotch. The scene plays out as normal just until Keitel "comes" and the sound of Winslet moaning is also trimmed. The U.S version also misses some of the thrusting and related sounds.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Siskel & Ebert: The Beach/Snow Day/Holy Smoke (2000)
- SoundtracksHolly Holy
Written by Neil Diamond
Prophet Music Inc.
Performed by Neil Diamond
Courtesy of MCA Records
Under license from Universal Music Australia
Kate Winslet plays Ruth Baron, the wilful daughter who swaps life in the suburbs for nirvana in India. Fearing that she has been cult-napped into marrying a wrinkly guru, her family hires P.J. Waters (Harvey Keitel), a US hotshot who specialises in the de-programming' of brainwashed hippies, to bring her back.
The performances are brilliantly enjoyable, Kate Winslet is great as Ruth, you can see she is trying a selection of different characters, while Harvey Keitel is at his best as P.J. Waters. Pam Grier is unfortunately underused in Holy Smoke, but the scenes she has are very enjoyable to watch. Anna Campion and Jane Campion's script is very well thought-out and extremely interesting, while Jane puts in lots of effort in directing, although sometimes she overdoes with different camera angles, making some of the shots very hard to watch and slightly confusing. But, apart from that, Holy Smoke is a genuinely beautiful movie to watch, the art-direction is another stand-out.
Although it doesn't quite match up to Campion's other films, The Piano and A Portrait Of A Lady, Holy Smoke is still a nakedly honest and watchable film that I recommend.
I rate Holy Smoke 7 out of 10.
- flickjunkie-3
- Dec 24, 2000
- How long is Holy Smoke?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $15,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $1,765,545
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $33,307
- Dec 5, 1999
- Gross worldwide
- $1,765,545
- Runtime1 hour 55 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1