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Summary: A woman finds herself in Morocco trying to find herself
Review: "Hideous Kinky" is based on an autobiographical novel by Esther Freud (Sigmund's great-granddaughter, not that this means anything in terms of the story) and stars Kate Winslet as Julia, a young British woman who has traveled to Marrakech in 1972 with her two young daughters in tow, 8-year old Bea (Bella Riza) and 6-year old Lucy (Carrie Mullan). Julia seems to be living in this exotic world because is a truth-seeker, but she is also running away from her life in London, where she caught her "husband" (i.e., the man who fathered her children), cheating on her. He is supposed to be sending them checks and care passages from home, but what usually happens is that the checks never arrive or are less than expected while the packages are intended for his "other" family.
This film holds us at a distance because the perspective is not so much that of the mother as it is of the daughters. Conveniently one of them is game for being dragged around a foreign land while the other becomes rebellious. The world does seemed turned upside down when a young girl tells her hippie mother: "I don't need another adventure, Mom. I need to go to school. I need to learn things." Julia wants to understand Sufi philosophy and find inner peace. Her daughters would like to taste rice pudding again (every time the older one has something to say the younger one announces the fact).
It is not so much that the movie condemns Julia as it is that it fails to understand her, largely because she clearly does not understand herself. Throughout the film director Gillies MacKinnon uses familiar songs by the likes of Jefferson Airplane and Richie Havens to substitute for action and to provide the film with the appropriate vibe. If these songs are being played loudly then what Julia is doing in a strange land with her children must be a good thing because these are good songs.
Yet we come to the conclusion that this what matters here in the end is not going to be a quest for enlightenment but simply the effort by Julia to get out of Morocco alive with both of her girls. However the crucial factor in this appears to be neither Julia nor the Europeans with whom she has some connections in Morocco, but Bilal (Said Taghamoui), a street performer who may be running from the policy and who becomes not only Julia's lover but a father figure of sorts to the girls. He may be a rogue, but he is a charming one and we have reason to believe that he cares about these women, even if he is ultimately powerless to help them.
In the end "Hideous Kinky" is more about people and a place more than anything else. The performances, including Winslet's first after the mega-success of "Titanic," are certainly solid enough. But memorable moments in this film are more likely to be when a familiar song, such as America's "Horse With No Name," pops up while Julia and the girls are hitchhiking across the desert. We get a sense of the culture of Morocco, but no real understanding of it, any more than Julia really understands herself any better in the end. But what we see is captivating enough that like Julia's children, we go along for the adventure.
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Summary: SWHippyF w/ 2 daughters Seeks Spiritual Center
Review: Hideous Kinky is a nice film not trying to be a great British epic. It is a smaller work about a young mother who insists on dragging her daughters around North Africa, mostly Morocco, to find her spiritual center. She is not fully blessed with the maturity to understand how she is throwing her family off center. The cinematography captures the terrain of land and people beautifully. Kate Winslet and the kids create the wonderful illusion of a clueless hippy family that graces and jinxes Bilal's life. I felt like the invisible 3rd daughter whining that I want to go back to England and go to school, but then crying when it is time to repatriate. Waaaaaaaaaaahhhh! I want to stay! Bilal has to be relieved to send me back, too. I would just like to know how I can send him a postcard. I would pair it with the BBC series ÒFlame Trees of Thika;Ó the episode of Absolutely Fabulous where Edina, Patsy & Saffy go to Morroco; ÒLaurel Canyon;Ó ÒAlmost Famous;Ó and ÒThe Sheltering Sky.Ó
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Summary: Kate Winslet does it again
Review: It is undeniable that Kate Winslet has courage. Were any other actress in the biggest blockbuster ever --`Titanic'--, she would follow up with another big movie, and become a sort of heroine. But Winslet, no! She doesn't want that. And here she is, in a small movie, with a low budget and with such a peculiar title. She doesn't care, as long as she's doing what she likes-- and by the way, she does it very well. `Hideous Kinky' tells the story of a British young woman who with her two little daughters leave the boring and grey London and her poet husband to go to a sunny and exotic place in Morocco in the early 70s. Her idea is to find a Sufi guru who will instructs her in the annihilation of Ego. While seeking this man, she falls in love, lives in awful conditions and even has to be apart from one of her daugthers. Needless to say that Winslet brings all the passion and power that this character needs. Her presence is magic and almost perfect. She is playing the kind of outsider anyone is expecting Winslet to play. It is impossible to imagine any other girl doing this role. Her two daughters are very good too, showing how lost they are in that place that is far from what they've been their whole lives. The script is based on Esther Freud's novel, and it interesting to think that the source material was written by a descendent of Freud --the man who made the word Ego the mantra of XX century. Another thing that shines in the movie is the soundtrack. Full of songs from the late 60s, it gives the right tone to the story. Not failing to mention the Moroccan song that are terrific! A highly recommended movie, but for specific audiences.
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Summary: Reminded me of my Childhood
Review: Wonderful film, of Julia taking her kids from England, pulling them around Morocco in the early seventies, as she searches for wisdom and enlightenment in the Islamic mysticism of Sufism. The characters are well done, and the children *very* well acted, sweet and engaging. Here one gets a strong foretaste of travels to Morocco, with beautiful scenes of Marrakech and the desert. Some drawbacks: brief nudity, Christians are portrayed too negatively, and one child is not entirely believable in her dislike of the free life in Morocco. Children have more imagination than that, and every child I have ever known enjoys adventure and travel at that age. Some of the characters, and indeed some viewers, feel Julia displays poor parenting skills, for she pursues her spiritual enlightenment at the expense of raising her children. The one child mentioned above in the movie struggles greatly with the desire to lead a "normal" life. From my perspective, growing up in a Jesus Freak commune (a people who are even mentioned in this movie), Julia's actions are not only entirely appropriate, but beneficial to her children, allowing them to experience greater spiritual depth. Growing up, we continuously traveled around, in many countries, and I am grateful to my parents for such an experience. I recommend this movie not as a view into a woman who is not raising her kids right, because she is being too selfish; but rather a look at how one can provide far greater opportunity to one's children through bold adventure, and how many children miss out because parents do not provide that opportunity.
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Summary: Spirit of the 60s, man
Review: Hideous Kinky is based on Esther Freud's novel, told from a child's point of view, of a strange family journey through Morocco in the early 1970s. Kate Winslett is the young mother who has left behind the stability of a flat in central London, work, and a husband. She drags her two young girls through the dusty and beautiful landscapes of Morocco, all the while searching for something she believes is out there. The theatrical trailer for this film was very odd--all I remember about is that I wanted to see the film for some reason. Not your typical Hollywood fare by a long shot, it's Winslett's first major film after Titantic, I believe. Quite a departure in terms of production, however, still a very good role for her. Over time, the characters find themselves lost in more ways than one, meeting up with and losing and finding Bilal, a Moroccan man who offers a fascinating counterpoint to these atypical English travellers. The selfishness of the main character becomes more clear as we watch the children suffer through confusion, discomfort, and a suspended reality while mommy flirts with spirituality. This is not for everyone. It's not a chick flick, it's not exactly a travelogue (though it approaches that format most often), nor is it a melodrama by any means. Taking place in the early 1970s it plays with the notions of the hippie or the pseudo-hippie, bucking the system yet stressing the notion that the system has irrevocably molded you. You may feel for the characters, or you may feel contempt at the irresponsible choices. There's also a great soundtrack on CD. The theatrical trailer made it's point with Jefferson Airplane's classic Somebody to Love, while there's also Nick Drake, Canned Heat, and some regional music from Morocco as well. The film is a real treat and is highly recommended if you want a recognizable star in a non-Hollywood setting, and if you want an insight into the nomadic handling of young children by a confused parent.
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