On face value, Australian author Julia Leigh’s Sleeping Beauty is both a sordid and brave film-making debut that will literally divide opinion. It’s not the nudity that is the main issue for most, rather the treatment of the main character, Lucy, played by Sucker Punch’s Emily Browning that triggers deep feelings of revulsion. At the same time, nothing is ever black and white, and there is a tragic fragility to all the characters’ mental states in this that counterbalances the horror first experienced.

Lucy (Browning) is a young university student drawn into a mysterious hidden world of unspoken desires that requires her absolute submission. She becomes a Sleeping Beauty, a girl drugged to spend the night with old men who covet her youth and beauty. However, Lucy begins to question what happens to her while she is asleep, and it is this hunger to know that awakens her from her daily slumber after a tragic event.

Browning’s incredibly bold performance cannot be faulted in this story. Her natural innocence and flawless radiance makes her an ideal casting for such a role – much like her Baby Doll presence in Sucker Punch. However, she keeps Lucy very real and intriguingly reckless in her ‘awake’ moments, as we watch a woman searching for her profound mark and social acceptance, being passively aggressive in trying to achieve that. Lucy is a user as much as she is used, forever thinking about the financial gain in her various encounters. It all comes back to your own view of those in the adult entertainment – exploited or empowered? You decide, hence the divided opinion.

That is not to say Leigh’s film does set out to outrageously disturb, especially with Man 2 scenes in the Sleeping Beauty Chamber. These depict the extreme position of Lucy’s trance-like subordination. They also act as the catalyst to her awakening from the ‘poison’ – like in the fairy tale. Leigh keeps the camera wide, implicating us in events as we watch like fascinated voyeurs. This makes viewing even more unsettling and guilt-ridden at times. But the most affecting aspect is Man 1 and his calmly delivered monologue addressed direct to us, the camera, that in hindsight, is the haunting aspect of the film, because it’s a situation perpetuated by societal norms that frown upon the exposure of the older figure. This injects a sense of huge melancholy into proceedings as ingrained biases are questioned.

Leigh’s work first incites extreme views then raises urgent questions that cannot be ignored about the dark depths of the human psyche. Sleeping Beauty will arouse interest, purely because of its supposed tabooed subject matter and the promise for Browning fans of seeing their heroine in all her natural glory. As the director said, it’s hard to establish an objective review of what you witness in Sleeping Beauty because it is purely down to one’s own conditioning. If that sounds like a cop-out, it isn’t meant to be. One thing is for certain this feature is what is loosely known as ‘challenging cinema’.

***~~ (3/5)

Famed for her lead role as Baby Doll in Zack Snyder’s fantasy action adventure Sucker Punch about an institutionalised young girl who retreats into an alternative reality as a coping mechanism while planning to escape from a mental facility, Australian actress Emily Browning talks to us about her next controversial film, Sleeping Beauty.

Officially selected at Cannes 2011, debut film-maker and author Julia Leigh’s film is a haunting portrait of Lucy, a young university student drawn into the mysterious hidden world of beauty and desire. Lucy, played by Browning, takes a job as a Sleeping Beauty, where drugged, Lucy must be absolutely submissive to the erotic desires of old men. But her work starts to bleed into her daily life as she develops an increasing need to find out what happens to her when she is asleep.

Emily talks intimately about her part as Lucy, being comfortable with nudity, the controversial sleeping scenes, working with Leigh, her favourite actress and what her Nana said after seeing the film.

HeyUGuys: Lucy is a very bold role to take on – why did you want to do it?

Emily Browning: First of all, the script was unbelievable. Julia’s writing is really mesmerising. I’ve never really read a role like this before. Lucy is aware she’s going to get objectified to some degree, and instead of raging against it, she decides to adopt what Julia calls this ‘radical passivity’, where she’s almost in control of the situation by allowing the situation to control her. She relinquishes control so that she can kind of sit back and become an observer, which I think is kind of an interesting, f***ed up way of doing things. I love the fact that she does that to the point that she literally cannot do it anymore and she has to claw her way back to reality. I just found that fascinating and I really loved how mysterious Lucy was.

HUG: Are you comfortable with doing nudity?

EB: I don’t have a problem with nudity. It’s never been an issue for me. Honestly, in terms of this film, I felt more self-conscious in the scenes where I had to be in the lingerie because it’s like presenting you as ‘I’m looking sexy’. In the scenes where Lucy is naked, some people have said they’re erotic. There’s nothing erotic about them to me – they are disturbing. The point of the film is they are disturbing. In our society when you get to a certain age you are told you are not allowed to be a sexual being any more, and that’s ridiculous. I think there’s something quite touching about these men, in the case of Man 1 (played by Peter Carroll) and Man 3 (played by Hugh Keays-Byrne) who decide to be in the presence of this sleeping girl because they don’t want to be looked upon, there’s this shame there, and they just want to hold onto something young, and I just find that a heartbreaking and sweet.

HUG: Man 2 (played by Chris Haywood) is the sadist in the film. How difficult was it to stay completely passive when he is licking your face?

EB: It was weird for the first few takes, to be honest, especially the cigarette burn on the neck. I actually had prosthetic skin put onto my neck so he could actually burn me and I wouldn’t feel it. But still, for the first two takes, I flinched, especially when someone puts a cigarette to your neck. Julia spoke to me about learning to meditate through those scenes, so I was focusing on my breathing and learning to shut myself off. I also think I get this kind of weird, super human strength when I’m in front of the camera because it’s what I love to do. I mean, when I was working on Sucker Punch, I’d do a fight scene and feel nothing, and then as soon as the camera stop rolling, I’d think s**t, I’m bleeding. You kind of lose yourself. You’re not really inhabiting your own body.

HUG: Even when being dropped in the film by Man 3, you must have wanted to react?

EB: Yeah a bit, but we’d had so much rehearsal time with Chris Haywood (Man 2), and he’s just such a sweet guy. We spoke at length about my boundaries and what he could do and what he couldn’t do. Julia wrote the bones of it, but he and I decided pretty much what he was going to do. When we were filming a scene, I actually think it was harder for him than it was for me. He was so apologetic. He kept saying, ‘I’m so sorry! Are you ok? I’m so sorry!’ That made it really comfortable. If he’d come in with an attitude, like this is awesome, then it would have been horrible. Knowing that he was there with me and on my side, and at any point when I wanted it to stop, it could stop, it made doing it ok.

HUG: Did you research into ‘Sleeping Beauties’?

EB: Julia told me a little bit about it, and she said I can send you some things if you like, but then we decided it was probably best if I didn’t, purely because I wanted Lucy to be ignorant to the whole thing because she doesn’t really know what’s going on. I thought if I had an outsider’s perspective, it would ruin it for the character. In all of the sleeping scenes, we filmed them in order. I went in when people were setting up, took of my robe and just laid there, and so I really wasn’t present for those scenes as such. I liked the idea that in the last sleeping scene, and I wake up, that’s really the first time that I’m present in that world, and that’s what I find out what’s going on, and it made it more intense for me and made that reaction more real.

HUG: Lucy’s job interview with Clara (Rachael Blake) in the film is quite intrusive – how was your first meeting with Julia?

EB: Yeah, she made me strip, she was behind double-sided glass [laughs]! No, I was filming Sucker Punch when I read the script, and I decided to put myself on tape – the film’s interview scene, where Clara asks Lucy to strip, was actually one of the scenes I had to put on tape, and so I had to make the decision during the audition, do I actually strip or not? I thought I really want this so I will. But the poor guy behind the camera really wasn’t expecting it, and I saw him trying to look everywhere but at me. I think he thought I was such a freak! But meeting Julia for the first time, I’d already been offered the role, so that made it a lot less intimidating. We discussed all of the films that she thought I should watch…

HUG: Which films in particular?

EB: There were quite a few, but the ones I remember and the ones I drew from the most were Michael Haneke’s The Piano Teacher with Isabelle Huppert because her character in that is kind of similar to Lucy, very quiet and still and slightly perverted in a way. I watched Belle de Jour, a film called Under The Skin with Samantha Morton in it – she’s my favourite actress. Watching any film with her in it is amazing. Julia also asked me to watch Lars von Trier’s Antichrist – and I think the only reason she wanted me to watch it was to say, our film’s not that bad [laughs]. At least there’s no female circumcision!

HUG: Was there anything you felt pressured to do, and told Julia that you weren’t going to do?

EB: Not really. I think Julia was surprised with how much I was ok with. I felt pretty good about everything. She said if there’s anything you want to change, tell me how we can fix it. The only thing I changed was when Lucy was getting a bikini wax. Originally in the script it mentioned that ‘everything was gone’, that Lucy gets everything waxed off. I said I’m not comfortable with that because I’ve had that done once before and I felt like a ten year-old. I mean, I already look very young, and I figured that just stepped over the line into paedophile territory. Julia said I totally agree. Let’s not do that! The Man 2 scene was not even as intense in the original script. Me and Chris were kind of hilarious when we got together because we were like, oh maybe you can do this, or maybe you can do that, and just kind of made it even more gross than it was!

HUG: Obviously Lucy does all these jobs to fund her studies, but is it also to help her alcoholic mother out, as it’s not completely clear.

EB: Yeah, I asked the same question. I thought does Lucy just do it to give her Mum money. I also asked Julia when Lucy says, ‘My Mother’s an alcoholic who runs an astrology hotline’ and I said is that a lie or is that truth? Julia said that’s truth, and so I think her Mum’s just annoying and asks her for money and she gives her a fake credit card number. I think in the being there isn’t a purpose – that’s the whole idea of Lucy that she’s just going through life and allowing things to happen to her. I think the turning point of the film is when Birdman dies, who’s her last connection to something emotionally real.

HUG: Can you give us more insight into Lucy’s relationship with Birdmann (Ewen Leslie) as it’s very ambiguous in the film.

EB: They are old friends, and he’s in the dark stages of alcoholism where he’s quite sick. I think she just wants to be there for him. I see Birdmann as being a little bit in love with Lucy, but she’s kind of not really emotionally available. I think the character of Birdmann is so important because without him, Lucy wouldn’t be human. When you see Lucy with him, she’s smiling and she actually loves something, that’s why when he dies, that’s like the last finger on the cliff. That’s her falling off the cliff. That’s the moment when she needs to find something and needs to pull herself back. I do think at the beginning there isn’t a purpose and he’s the only thing she cares about, and he’s gone and that’s why the waking up at the end is so cathartic for her. She realises what she’s been doing. I kind of like to think about what happens after that waking-up scene and where she goes.

HUG: Has this part and going nude uninhibited you to take on similar roles in the future?   

EB: I definitely have the same issues as other women when I don’t like this or don’t like that, but I like my body more when it’s naked than when it’s dressed – I know that’s kind of a weird thing to say! I think when people are naked every single person is flawed in some way. I just hate the way that actresses are told how they’re supposed to look. I’d just finished Sucker Punch so I’d been under quite a lot of stress, and I’d been working out, so I was actually quite skinny at the start of this film. Now that’s the one thing I watch and go [sharp intake of breath] you can see my ribs. I feel more comfortable when I have a bit more meat on me because I’m naturally very skinny. This film was almost pushing me to say I can except my body and everyone else can accept it, too, because everyone’s different and my body’s normal and I’ve got small boobs and I don’t care. I just don’t think people should be scared of being naked. I also think society needs to stop deciding how people should look – how dare you decide what I’m to look like?

HUG: Have friends and family seen you in the film yet, and how do you think the public will react when it’s out this week?

EB: Well, my Mum and my Nana and my Auntie have. They loved it, but they’re biased – they’ll just love anything that I do. My Nana said to me, ‘I loved every bit of it, except the part where you offered the man a blow job’. I said, ‘ah thanks Nan. That’s great [laughs]‘! I’m happy if opinions continue to be divided because I’d rather make something that gets people talking, to something that people feel ambivalent about. I have no idea what the reaction’s going to be.

Sleeping Beauty is in cinemas this Friday (October 14). Look out for the review, coming soon.

Known as a novelist first and foremost, author and debut film-maker Julia Leigh wanted to ask the question, what would it be like to be a ‘sleeping beauty’, after reading two novellas by Yasunari Kawabata and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Officially selected at Cannes 2011, Leigh’s film, Sleeping Beauty, is a haunting portrait of Lucy (played by Emily Browning), a young university student drawn into the mysterious hidden world of beauty and desire. Lucy takes a job as a Sleeping Beauty, where drugged, Lucy must be absolutely submissive to the erotic desires of old men. But her work starts to bleed into her daily life as she develops an increasing need to find out what happens to her when she is asleep.

Julia tells us about the origins of her ideas, Jane Campion’s involvement, and working with Emily Browning, how a certain scene shocked her, and gives her reaction to the label by some of Sleeping Beauty being merely ‘exploitation porn’. 

HeyUGuys: Where did the ideas for Sleeping Beauty come from?

Julia Leigh: For me, the question of inspiration is always an exercise in hindsight because in truth, it’s completely mysterious to me why something arises? There are a number of things, of course the classic fairy tale. I had read and really loved two novellas by Kawabata and Garcia Marquez, which are stories told from the point of view of older men who pay to sleep next to drugged girls. In the Bible, King David sends out to sleep the night alongside sleeping virgins. There are sleeping girls on the Internet. So Sleeping Beauty was out there already as a concept. On a more personal note, after my novel The Hunter came out, I did have a recurring nightmare of being filmed in my sleep, and it was quite compelling because you dream you are asleep in your own bed when you are asleep in your own bed, so it’s very hard to know what’s a dream and what’s reality. I did start to think we are all vulnerable in our sleep, and it’s almost as though we like to forget that. I started to think what it would be like to know something not very good happened to you, and how would that seep down into your waking life and destabilise you.

HUG: You said you set out to make a film where audiences would say ‘Did I really see that?’ Did you set out to shock audiences with this?

JL: I didn’t because I didn’t think that far ahead. There was nothing at all calculating about it, so I can’t say I had an intention to shock.

HUG: How easy was it to get people interested in the script beforehand, and then after Jane Campion got involved?

JL: At one point the script was on the Hollywood ‘Black List’, a list of un-produced screenplays in Hollywood that often do go on to be made into films. People were aware of it. But it didn’t get made in America – and I didn’t want it to. In Australia we’ve got a really good public funding system. The principle investor in this film was Screen Australia, the funding body, and it was this body that introduced me to Jane Campion, and wisely they thought it would be good for me to have a mentor figure – someone who I could ask questions of. Jane read he script. I held my breath. Thankfully she responded to it and she agreed to come on board. She was around for most of pre-production and she was away during the shoot – I always knew that would be the case. She came back in post and I showed her an early cut. She did suggest some trims but did give encouragement that we were on the right track. That was incredible comfort to me at that time. Since then she has continued to be incredibly generous we the support of the film.

HUG: How cathartic was the actual film-making process in allowing you to visual get your ideas across?

JL: The script developed a little bit during production because you always have those exergies that you have to deal with. First of all I couldn’t afford to worry or to look down in any way. I just decided to be very vigilant about all the small things. I felt that if I held the line through production then my leap of faith was if I created these conditions then something good would come of it.

HUG: You did a long ‘director’s treatment’ describing each scene in detail. Were there any scenes that when actually acted out in front of you affected you more than expected?

JL: One of the more confronting scenes in the Sleeping Beauty Chamber involving Man 2 (the sadist) and Lucy, we did a lot of preparation, including with my DoP, because the style of the film with its longer takes and the camera as the steady witness, meant that we had to really marry the camera to the performance that was unfolding. We did a little rehearsal with a home video camera and a bed with a husband and wife couple that I know. I had to think about how long to stay in a scene, and how to maintain the pace of the film that we did as we were making it. When we were doing this first run, I did call cut pretty early because it was hard for me to watch too. But then I had to sort of still myself and become unflinching.

HUG: You said you picked up some character mannerisms during the filming period – what did you mean by that?

JL: When you’re in the edit, you see things over and over and over and over again, and you hear lines over and over, so it’s easy to. I can’t give you an example.

HUG: Was there anything Emily who plays Lucy was a little dubious about doing?

JL: I think she was concerned that I’d actually ask her… I don’t want to spoil the magic of the first scene! So I think she might have been concerned about this and what I was asking her to do, but she had no cause to worry.

HUG: Emily told us she actual felt more comfortable with no clothes on.

JL: Oh great, I love her [laughs]. She’s so great and you know what, I recognise I was very lucky to work with her. My life could have been very different

HUG: Some will see Sleeping Beauty as ‘exploitation porn’. What do you say to that, and what do you hope audiences will discover from watching it?

JL: This film has already received many different responses. Some people really love it, and then again it’s not for others. I’m aware of that and that’s fine by me. I have zero control over how people feel about the film, so I don’t feel I have to defend the film at all. My hope is that this film does allow the audience to use their own imagination. It is a memorable film.

HUG: As a female watching it with males, some were shocked that a female would produce such a film showing a female being exploited. How do you find that?

JL: Really? Why were they so easily shocked? I think this is good. I think you should write about it. I think I’m a step ahead of that game, the question of exploitation, but it is something I’m aware of.

HUG: Were there any scenes that didn’t make the final cut?

JNL: There were a couple of scenes that just showed Lucy in her everyday life that for technical reasons didn’t work. But it’s pretty faithful to the original script. We did drop some scenes, which I was amazed by, as it was a pretty short script, like Lucy walking along in an alley, for example. We did not lose anything from the Chamber world or the Sleeping Beauty world.

HUG: How do you describe Lucy’s relationship with Birdmann?

JL: They are really close friends, and I guess they’re both people who refuse to be well adjusted, if you like, so they’re kind of a safe harbour for one another. I remember in my early twenties, the friendships that I formed then were very intense, close friendships. It’s maybe because you’ve left home and you’ve left the strictures of compulsory education and you’re trying to find your own way in the world and our ‘own folk’ if you like. I do think those friendships are very important; hence Lucy and Birdmann are very close friends.

HUG: You’ve now had a taste of film-making. Any more plans to make more films, say adapting one of your own novels?

JL: I would love to. The Hunter has just been made into a film by Daniel Nettheim, starring Willem Dafoe, Sam Neill and Frances O’Connor that premiered at Toronto Film Festival this year, and just opened on Thursday in Australia – I think it will be released here (UK) later. I’m friends with Daniel and the producer Vincent Sheehan, but I chose not to read the script or attend cuts, so I just saw it at the premiere. In terms of my other films that I could adapt, I’d have to think about it. I do want to continue making films, though.

HUG: Are you working on anything at the moment?

JL: I do have a couple of secret things [smiles] but I’m not telling…

Sleeping Beauty is in cinemas this Friday (October 14). Look out for the review, coming soon.

To read our exclusive interview with Julia Leigh’s star of the film, Emily Browning, check back on the site tomorrow.

The Palme d’Or. The prize awarded by the jury at the Cannes International film festival, for the best film in the competition. In recent times, it has been awarded to both up and coming film directors, like Steven Soderbergh, the Coens, and perhaps most famously Quentin Tarantino, and veterans of their art like Gus Van Sant and Roman Polanski. The Palme d’Or is considered one of the most prestigious awards in film.

This year, it went to Michel Haneke. It’s been a long time coming for the Austrian. Considered one of the most talented directors in Europe, Haneke will be best known in the UK and US for his only English language effort, 2007′s Funny Games US. A remake of his own 1997 Austrian movie, it wasn’t the best showcase of his work. He has returned to his native tongue, and hopes this year’s award winning The White Ribbon signals a return to form.

It is a small village in Germany, just before the beginning of the first world war. The village doctor is enjoying his usual morning ride, when suddenly the horse tumbles head over hoof, severely injuring it’s rider. The doctor is taken to hospital in the nearest, and upon further investigation it seems someone tied a wire across his route deliberately.
 
Then, an apparent accident occurs at a mill. A female worker falls through rotten floorboards to her death. The village is shocked by these events, none more so than her son. He commits an act of revenge against the mill owner, the village baron. When the baron’s son later goes missing, then turns up tied and beaten, suspicion inevitably falls on the same man. But with the revelation that he could not have committed the crime, the village is stunned. Who in the village could have committed such a crime?
 
As more incidents occur, the young village school teacher tries to unravel the mystery. Could it be possible the children of the village, kept in line by the iron fists of their guardians, are responsible for this string of strange and malicious events?
 
Shot in black and white, with no musical scoring, the story at the heart of The White Ribbon is pretty dark. The occurrences are all violent, intended to injure or kill. The way some of the adults of the village live their lives is questionable. But it’s the strict way they treat their children, to the point of physical abuse (and in one case sexual), that shocks. This is no exploitation picture however. The more sinister parts of the story are sensitively handled. And there are no graphic depictions of abuse or violence, they are implied, or occur behind closed doors.
 
It’s not all bleak drama however. There is a sweet love story contained within, as the young school teacher courts a nanny working for the baron. The scenes as the teacher and the object of his affections shyly get to know each other are very well written. There are many well played out scenes that tug at the heartstrings. The pastor’s youngest son giving up his beloved pet bird to replace the pastor’s dead one almost brings a tear to the eye. One particular scene, in which the doctor’s daughter is explaining death to her younger brother, starts off amusing, and ends up heartbreaking.
 
The casting in The White Ribbon is outstanding. There isn’t a bad performance on show. The ensemble cast create a convincing, fully realised village community. There are some outstanding performances amongst the adult actors, particularly Burghart Klaussner as the ultra strict Pastor, Rainer Bock as the abusive Doctor, and Christian Friedel as the young Teacher. However, it is amongst the younger actors that the performances amaze. The children of the village are played in such a subtle and confident manner. In particular, the level of acting shown by Thibault Serie and Miljan Chatelain, not much more than five years old, is remarkable.
 
It is a relatively long film, but is perfectly paced. The slow-burn nature of the storyline may nonetheless test the patience of some viewers. Some below par CGIi in the opening scene is in danger of taking you out of the period setting. These are minor quibbles though.
 
The subtext of the film, the idea that the events that occur ultimately are part of a wider problem which may have contributed to the rise of fascism, is certainly interesting. Another film that opens this week, Harry Brown, also deals with youth in revolt, again pointing the finger at those responsible for the children. Whilst The White Ribbon attributes some blame to the harsh discipline endured by the German kids, the opposite is true in Harry Brown, where a lack of discipline appears to be the problem. The root cause however, the abuse of these impressionable young children, is the same in both cases.
 
If we study history to learn from it’s mistakes, what can we expect to happen in our own society over the next twenty years? It’s a frightening question. One of many that are asked by The White Ribbon, with few answers on offer. I can definitely recommend Michael Hanneke’s offering, it’s a fine film, and possibly more relevant today than we’d like to admit.

The White Ribbon is released in the UK this Friday 13th November

Bazmann

Here’s the new international trailer for the 2009 Cannes Film Festival Palme D’or winner, The White Ribbon.

The White Ribbon is directed by Michael Haneke’s and stars Susanne Lothar, Ulrich Tukur, Theo Trebs, Michael Schenk, Leonie Benesch, Josef Bierbichler, Rainer Bock, Christian Friedel, Burghart Klaussner, Steffi Kuhnert and Ursina Lardi.

Set in a village in northern Germany on the eve of World War I, this is the mysterious story of the children in a school choir and their families. Who is behind the series of strange accidents that befall them?

I’m expecting this movie to only be on in a few cinemas which always seems the same with foreign movies but I encourage your to seek it out. We can expect to see it 13th November.