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Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

Boba_Fett1138 Every now and then I come across a movie that I found truly genuinely annoying to watch. Coicidence or not, these type of movies also often star Kate Winslet.Well, let me just say that Kate Winslet is a great young actress, who often impresses with her roles and has won many awards, even at a still very young age already. I just wished she would stop in playing in these sort of semi-artistic and deep dramatic movies. They just annoy me with everything in it.The movie just never really got to me, as it featured a distant story, set in a strange foreign country, with a completely different culture. As a cultural movie this movie does have its strong points and it also is insightful and refreshing seeing this movie shed some light on the Muslim culture, in Morroco, without prejudices. It's an open movie, that tries to create some understanding and handles its with respect, even though you still won't sympathize for with just everything.Just problem is its overall story and main character. It's a young mother who in my opinion selfishly drags along her 2 young daughters with her to a strange and far off country, with a culture that is potentially dangerous for the young girls and women in general. They don't really have any money and the mother doesn't act very responsible, by getting her and her daughters and trouble and mingle in with dangerous men. How can I enjoy watching a movie such as this one?Also it's visual style annoyed me. Sure, it's beautiful looking with its sets and locations and all but yet the movie feels the need to feature some artistic shots and editing in it. This is mostly what annoys me about the movie.Also the British accents did nothing but annoyed me, especially those of the little girls. Of course British accents normally don't bother me much but in this case it did, which was probably due to the overall style of the movie added to it and it's unlikely and/or uninteresting moments. Perhaps the movie is more of a chick-flick, more or less and I'm simply not the right type of audience for this movie.Deserves some credit but overall a weak, uninteresting and annoying little movie.4/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

James Hitchcock My DVD of "Hideous Kinky", originally given away free with a Sunday newspaper, had been gathering dust on my shelves for some time when I decided to watch it for the sole reason that I had just returned from a holiday in Marrakesh, where the film is set. The action takes place in the early seventies, a time when the city was an essential stop on the hippie trail, largely because of the easy availability of drugs. (It was doubtless this reputation that was responsible for the Crosby Stills and Nash hit "Marrakesh Express", the railway systems of North Africa not normally being regarded as a major source of inspiration for songwriters).There were, however, some in the hippie community whose interest in the city was less pharmaceutical than spiritual, this being a period of great interest in alternative forms of religion. Just as some young Westerners travelled to India or the Far East to sit at the feet of a guru, so Julia, the main character in the film, has been drawn to Morocco by her interest in the mystical Islamic Sufi tradition. She is a young Englishwoman who has travelled to Marrakesh with her two young daughters Bea and Lucy. She has formed a relationship with a young Moroccan, but has no job, and her only sources of income are the maintenance cheques she receives at irregular intervals from the estranged boyfriend who is the father of her children.The film has two strengths. One is its vivid photography, which well captures the brilliant light and colours of Marrakesh (a fascinating if exhausting place to visit). The other is the charm and naturalness of the two young actresses who play Bea and Lucy. The two girls are carefully distinguished; Lucy is happy with her life in Morocco, whereas Bea, the elder, wants nothing more than to return to a "normal" life in London. (The odd title "Hideous Kinky" is a meaningless phrase invented by the two girls as part of a children's game).The film does not, however, have much else going for it. Morocco seems to have a strange effect on European filmmakers; I was reminded of Bernardo Bertolucci's "The Sheltering Sky", another beautifully photographed but lifeless film set in the same country. "Hideous Kinky" is not quite as bad as Bertolucci's mammoth epic of tedium (for a start it is considerably shorter), but it is still dull and uninteresting. One reviewer describes it as "refreshingly free of a rigorous story line", which he evidently intended as praise but which struck me as a euphemism for "having nowhere to go and nothing to say". Kate Winslet could do little with the character of Julia, who came across as a rather unattractive personality. It is ironical that someone so intent on the "annihilation of the ego" (the goal of Sufism) should be so egotistical; she is so obsessed with her own spiritual journey that she neglects her children. The film, however, misses the opportunity to explore the ironies and contradictions in the hippie shopping-cart attitude to religion.Following the immense success of "Titanic", Winslet was in the enviable position of being able to choose just about any role she wanted. A small-scale, low-budget European art film like "Hideous Kinky" was therefore a strange career move, but doubtless Winslet wanted to prove to the world and to herself that, despite having played the leading role in a huge blockbuster, she was still a quirky free spirit. (Another egotistical way of annihilating one's ego?) Watching the film, however, I was reminded of that quote from Ken Loach's "Poor Cow", immortalising a dull West London suburb:- "When Tom was in work the world was our oyster. And we chose Ruislip".In 1998, the world was Kate Winslet's oyster. And she chose the cinematic equivalent of Ruislip. 4/10

Lee Eisenberg When we watched "Hideous Kinky" a few years ago, it seemed like a period piece: it looked at the days when people could go to a place like Morocco and not have to fear for their lives. Since September 11, 2001, it's become even more of a period piece.Is it a good movie? Even if the movie's no masterpiece, it's good just to be able to see Kate Winslet as a Swinging London flower child taking her daughters to Morocco, where she strikes up a relation with a local man. That probably would be dangerous nowadays.So see it just for that. Given the current state of the world, you may not have much more time to watch it.

Philby-3 The tagline for this movie (on the DVD box) "It's not about escape, it's about discovery" would be inspiring if it were true, but I'm not sure 25 year old "Julia" found her time in Morocco as a single mother with two young girls living precariously on occasional cheques from home particularly life-changing. It is the late 60s. "Julia" (played with suitable poise by Kate Winslett) has fled London to Morocco after her painter husband has taken up with someone else. Marrakech is a cheap place to live, but it's a struggle. Her kids Bea and Lucy befriend Bilal (Said Taghmaoui), an acrobat from the Medina who promptly beds Julia. Charming though he is, he turns out to be unreliable. Her efforts to become a follower of Sufi mysticism end in rejection. Eventually Julia and her girls board the fabled Marrakech express, but it is in retreat from the exotic, not in search of it.It seems that Esther Freud, the original author, wrote her more than slightly autobiographical first novel from the point of view of Lucy, the younger child (6 years old in the film) and produced a very interesting book. The film is much more matter of fact, though the locations and cinematography are gorgeous, and Julia's struggle to survive is more obtrusive. It's an interesting country all right but Julia does not belong there.Your correspondent happened recently to be in Morocco, and Marrakech, and was told about this film by some local friends. They liked it because despite the beggars, heat and dust, it portrayed Morocco as a friendly, welcoming place. And so it is, but that does not make it the place for hippy dreamers. Ms Freud's mum settled down in the Home Counties after this experience. Here, Bea, the older girl, wants nothing more than to be "normal', to have a satchel, wear a uniform and go to school like all the other girls, and to heck with exotic Morocco. Lucy, on the other hand, just soaks it all in, and hey, 20 years later writes a promising first novel. Well, maybe Julia's odyssey was not entirely in vain.This film did not do well at the box office, despite the presence of Kate Winslett, and I can think of a couple of reasons (apart from the meaningless title) why not. The story, such as it is, is pretty discouraging and the locations over-relied on. (There are also a few dreadful minor performances). But as a psychological travel film it succeeds quite well, even if not everything is possible in the Moroccan Postal Service, as one brave official claims.Esther Freud happens to be the daughter of the noted British painter Lucien Freud, and hence the great-granddaughter of the great Sigmund, father of psychoanalysis. I mention this only because Julia has a couple of dreams great-granddad would not have had any trouble with, but Lucy's dreams eg the disembodied hand are more intriguing. Perhaps if the director could have approached the story more from Lucy's viewpoint it might have had more impact.