Holy Smoke
Holy Smoke ★★ 1999 (R)
Free-spirited Ruth (Winslet) travels to India and finds would-be spiritual enlightenment with an Indian guru. Her behavior terrifies her parents and her mother (Hamilton) manages to lure Ruth back home to Australia. They've hired American cult specialist, macho PJ Waters (Keitel), to rescue and deprogram her. Isolated in the Australian bush, the balance of power between Ruth and PJ begins to shift as sexual obsession takes hold. Complex characters but the strident storytelling gets annoying and some scenes seem staged for needless shock value. Based on the novel by the Campion sisters. 114m/C VHS, DVD . AU Harvey Keitel, Kate Winslet, Julie Hamilton, Tim Robertson, Sophie Lee, Pam Grier, Paul Goddard, Daniel Wyllie; D: Jane Campion; W: Jane Campion, Anna Campion; C: Dion Beebe; M: Angelo Badalamenti.