Holy Smoke was not a film I cared for, really. So, when I saw it, I was a bit unsure about what I was going to see. Fortunately, Holy Smoke is an experience I really enjoyed, and I would easily watch it again.
Kate Winslet plays Ruth Baron, the wilful daughter who swaps life in the suburbs for nirvana in India. Fearing that she has been cult-napped into marrying a wrinkly guru, her family hires P.J. Waters (Harvey Keitel), a US hotshot who specialises in the de-programming' of brainwashed hippies, to bring her back.
The performances are brilliantly enjoyable, Kate Winslet is great as Ruth, you can see she is trying a selection of different characters, while Harvey Keitel is at his best as P.J. Waters. Pam Grier is unfortunately underused in Holy Smoke, but the scenes she has are very enjoyable to watch. Anna Campion and Jane Campion's script is very well thought-out and extremely interesting, while Jane puts in lots of effort in directing, although sometimes she overdoes with different camera angles, making some of the shots very hard to watch and slightly confusing. But, apart from that, Holy Smoke is a genuinely beautiful movie to watch, the art-direction is another stand-out.
Although it doesn't quite match up to Campion's other films, The Piano and A Portrait Of A Lady, Holy Smoke is still a nakedly honest and watchable film that I recommend.
I rate Holy Smoke 7 out of 10.