Review of Holy Smoke

Introduction

Holy Smoke, from Jane Campion of “The Piano” fame, is a very strange movie. Kate Winslet plays a girl who is thought by her family to be brainwashed by an Indian cult; Harvey Keitel is the man sent after her to bring her back. The film charts the changing viewpoints that each has, ‘opening’ their minds to broader thoughts than what they began with.

Video

The visuals are very good, befitting for such a great looking movie. The picture does have a little grain though, and some of the colours were a little off. The handling of blacks was also not that good, but this is not a major drawback. Overall a nice looking transfer.

Audio

The 5.1 mix is again very good, but bear in mind that this is a mainly dialogue-based film. Your speakers will get most use out of Kate Winslet’s shrieking and the soundtrack, as opposed to any LFEs.

Features

Apart from the 2 obligatory trailers, there is a superb commentary (although it seems like two are being advertised, from the box). VCI have managed to acquire an exclusive R2 commentary with Kate Winslet and writer (and director’s sister) Anna Campion. It is clear that both women have interesting views about the film, and about other topics too. They interact very well, keeping the commentary more of an informal chat. A good extra for both fans and non-fans of the movie to listen to.

Conclusion

This film is one that has polarised viewers and critics – just like Magnolia and MI: 2 this year, to name a couple. Most either love it or hate it, so just to be difficult I am just in the middle. The film starts off quite well, but then tails off into a disjointed story, finally ending up in a sequence of surreal and almost farcical scenes. The most disturbing thing was when Winslet puts lipstick on Harvey Keitel, who also happens to be wearing a red dress. Like, what the hell?! This is a man who has played some of the greatest male leads in the last 30 years, from in Mean Streets to Reservoir Dogs.

All in all, this is a film you will have to see for yourself to see whether you like it or not. The script is indeed bizarre, but the two strong leads do a good job in making the storyline plausible. The DVD is also a good affair: whilst not being a full-blown special edition, it is definitely good enough to be a keeper. And should you buy it in the first place, this R2 version is the one to go for, over the extraless R1 DVD.