Contentar Best movie of this year hands down!

Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Tobias Burrows It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Kat Can't imagine this cult de-programmer being renowned. Still good Harvey Keitel performance. Liked the touch of comedy, especially in the family dysfunction. The punch was epic.

Tony Armstrong The ingredients are all here to make this recipe into a winner. It's very much Campion fare with Winslet at perfection (most of the time). However, from the time the protagonist wets herself, we see Campion lose herself in the lush lust of the attraction and she doesn't stop at any time to pull herself out of it and get back to the story. This movie shows the director's personal thoughts exposing themselves on the screen. She seems to get just as horny as Keitel in directing the movie as his character does in it. She's irresistibly drawn to the sensual and doesn't seem to notice. Pity, because it was such an intriguing first half.Jane Campion is definitely not a prude and neither is she the least bit uncomfortable about outpicturing her carnal instinctiveness. I just wish she could keep her aspirations separate.

hoytyhoyty During one of the periodic art-meme phases in Australia, many were bamboozled into thinking Jane Campion had the ability to make films.Now, with the benefit of the healing passage of time, they have seen the error of their ways. Among other mistakes, 'The Piano' has finally been erased from history.With this outrageously crap film, that nearly took down the careers of both Harvey Keitel and Kate Winslet, little miss Campion tries a silly film-student idea that has never worked. Ever.She tries to have three different narrative styles in the same film:One is a gritty POV documentary. One is a drama. One is a semi/stage musical.And NONE of them work. Nor do they INTEGRATE!The supporting characters are so irritating and shallow, and so is their vacuous dialogue, that you want to see them die by fire. Screaming. In agony.The main characters are so obnoxiously stupid, that you want to see them beaten up and dragged out of shot - perhaps so that a good film could be made with the resources.The musical bits are so, utterly jarring and absurd that they formed the primary moments when viewers walked out.Yes, I saw it at the cinema. OMG, I saw it at the cinema. (I had to stay though, it was a train-wreck fascination of an order of magnitude I hadn't experienced for a while. The kind that makes your bones sing.)Even with the studio spending all the available spare cash on not less than THREE promotional passes, they could not recover anything like their costs.Why they let her go on to make 'Angel At My Table' I have no idea, I guess she must have a good pitch-line.At least I know not to watch it.

Chrysanthepop Jane Campion takes us to dark territory again in 'Holy Smoke' but this time with a touch of comedy. I am surprised at the negative response so many have claiming that it is anti-feminist blah blah blah or that it is a comedy with no substance. On the contrary, I find 'Holy Smoke' to be a provocative piece full of substance.The refreshing novel concept is pretty daring and Campion balances both dark humour and intensity. She tackles various relevant themes such as respect and care within the family (the mother is the only one who seems to be concerned about what happened to her daughter in India while the father is totally indifferent), sexual manipulation, spirituality vs brainwash, power control and so on. The viewer is totally absorbed on how the de-programmer 'saves' Ruth but things take unexpected turns and we start questioning who exactly this PJ Waters is. The relationship between PJ and Ruth gradually becomes reminiscent of that between Lolita and Humbert (from Kubrick's 'Lolita'). The dysfunctional family is portrayed in a funny light but the characters's (especially the women's) despair and struggle is evident such as Mom being concerned about her daughter and Yvonne who is unhappy with her sex life. Campion, with the help of the actors, creates this whole mysterious atmosphere through the characters. We are given some nice glimpses of the isolated dry Australian landscape.The performances are terrific. Kate Winslet, even though occasionally switches back to her own British accent, acts phenomenally. She already made a brave choice by choosing such a risky role and the actress just shows how comfortable she is in the skin of her character and mesmerizes the viewer. Harvey Keitel does nothing short of a fine job but he is obviously overshadowed by Winslet. The supporting cast, especially Sophie Lee (as Ruth's desperate and sleazy sister-in-law) and Julie Hamilton (as the concerned and loving mother).'Holy Smoke' is a well-made and brave film. Clearly it is not for everyone. There are very few movies that are both funny and thought-provoking. 'Holy Smoke' is one such captivating film.