3. Sweetie (1989)
Sweetie is the first main feature directed by Jane 'The Piano' Campion. It is set in her native Australia and is considered to be a film of such import, it has been given the Criterion makeover. The film follows the relationship between Dawn and Kay, two sisters at loggerheads. Kay is quiet, boring and superstitious. She takes up with a man on the basis of a tea leaf reader's prediction. Dawn (played by Genevieve Lemon who did her time in Prisoner Cell Block H as Marlene 'Rabbit' Warren - sorry I'm a huge PCBH fan and I had to mention that) is known as Sweetie. She is severely mentally ill, acts as a child, throws strops, scuppers people's plans for badness and is generally a huge pain in the ass. But her father loves her, doesn't see her as a nuisance - only his playful, childlike Sweetie. A series of events lead to Sweetie going off the boil completely and painting herself all black (she is naked) and setting up camp in the treehouse in her parent's back garden. Things spiral out of control and lead to Sweetie's demise.. The film is uniformly excellently acted, filmed, produced and directed. It was clear from this film that Campion had talent by the bucketful and was destined for great things. Sweetie is a fabulous little film - very quirky and with a unique atmosphere. It feels very Australian, if a film can feel such a thing. It's not the most fast paced film in the world - it is a character study of two sisters and their relationship. If you like your films off-beat and cerebral, get your teeth into Sweetie.