Sweetie

Jane Campion

New Zealand

1989

99 minutes

Color

1.85:1

English

Watch Film for $5

356

Synopsis

Though she went on to create a string of brilliant films, Jane Campion will always be remembered for her stunning debut feature, Sweetie, which focuses on the hazardous relationship between the buttoned-down, superstitious Kay and her rampaging, devil-may-care sister, "Sweetie"—and by extension, their entire family’s profoundly rotten roots. A feast of colorful photography and captivating, idiosyncratic characters, Sweetie heralded the emergence of this gifted director as well as the breakthrough of Australian cinema, which would take international film by storm in the nineties.

Cast

SweetieGenevieve Lemon
KayKaren Colston
LouisTom Lycos
GordonJon Darling
FloDorothy Barry
BobMichael Lake
ClaytonAndre Pataczek

Credits

DirectorJane Campion
ProducerJohn Maynard
ScreenplayGerard Lee and Jane Campion
Co-producerWilliam MacKinnon
CinematographySally Bongers
EditingVeronika Haussler
MusicMartin Armiger
Costume designAmanda Lovejoy

Disc Features

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION:

  • New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised by director of photography Sally Bongers and approved by director Jane Campion
  • New Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack
  • Audio commentary featuring Campion, Bongers and screenwriter Gerard Lee
  • Making “Sweetie”, a new video conversation between stars Genevieve Lemon and Karen Colston
  • Campion’s early short films: An Exercise in Discipline: Peel; Passionless Moments; and A Girl’s Own Story
  • Jane Campion: The Film School Years, a 1989 conversation between Campion and critic Peter Thompson
  • Gallery of behind-the-scenes photos and production stills
  • Original theatrical trailer
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • Plus: A new essay by film scholar Dana Polan

From the Current

On the Road With Jane Campion

Sep 30, 2009

Sweetie: Jane Campion’s Experiment

by Dana Polan Oct 23, 2006

As it has evolved, Jane Campion's body of work has come increasingly to exhibit a powerful unity, centered on a commitment to depicting the psychosexual realities of women's lives. In her feature films, she homes in on the subjectivity of one woman, chronicling how, for better or worse, she . . .

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Available Editions

Sweetie Criterion DVD Add to Cart

DVD

1 Disc

SRP: $39.95

Criterion Store price

$31.96