I give Kate Winslet props for doing such a small indie after the massive success of Titanic, and while she certainly is great, the story seems very condensed in its telling. It jumps to make up for time spent elsewhere, feeling it needs to hurry because it's only got so much time left. The ending felt sprung out of nowhere as Bea had just recovered from being sick, and oh, all of a sudden, "we've got the tickets, we need to go home."
After all that though, I really enjoyed watching this for they low key qualities. Winslet is just amazing to watch. Her simplicity is riveting. The girls who played her two daughters were charming and seemed normal (which, child actors almost always seem to have "kinks"). Said, who played her love interest, was charming in his role and did exactly what he needed to do. The scenery was exiquisite, and being shot in location, the reality of it is very compelling. It's like it's a real story, and not one just being told to you through a camera.
There's really not going alot in this movie. It's over an hour in till something actually happens. To be honest, if it was anyone else but Kate Winslet I probably wouldn't be interested in it in the first place, but homegirl brings it. Natural, lively, and always watchable; that's my girl.
PAN AND SCAN. Interesante y bien hecha, con par de buenas actuaciones infantiles, pero Kate Winslet sola eleva la película a otra categoría. / Interesting and well-made, with a couple of good child performances, but Kate Winslet alone elevates this to another category.
Hideous Kinky--no it's neither "Hideous" nor "Kinky" ! You have to watch the movie to see why it's called that. Very enjoyable film about a single mother and her two young daughters "discovering" themselves in the Hippie early 1970's. Great soundtrack too!
I think what I like most about this movie is that Kate Winslet followed up her phenomenal success with "Titanic" with this so un-"Titanic" role in a very un-"Titanic" movie. This isn't a Hollywood film. The plot structure's pretty loose, the characters are pretty complex, and even the subject matter is pretty non-mainstream. What is great about Winslet is that with her charm and natural beauty, she can make a questionably unlikeable character likeable. As a mother dragging her kids through Morocco as she tries to "find herself", this role could very well have painted the mother in a selfish, wreckless light. But through a strong script and great work by Winslet, it doesn't come off that way. I didn't necessarily agree with her way of life, but I also felt that she had good intentions both for herself and her children. And the two little girls pretty much define "precocious". The shots of Morocco are pretty to look at, as well. If you're a Kate Winslet fan, definitely worth a look.
The only highlights of Hideous Kinky were a shot of Kate Winslet's boobs and a few slightly amusing scenes. Not anything to base an entire movie off of. Actually that shot wasn't even that flattering, the more I think about it. Mainly the movie just wanders around forever like it took some bad acid and woke up 3 states away.
For some reason I love this film even though it seems to just float along (I throughly enjoy the ride along with it). This film is stunning to watch, Marrakesh looks enchanting and I can't help but envy the lifestyle of the characters despite the difficulties. Another reason this film works so well is because of the fabulous acting, even the young children are amazing so the characters are as vivid as the scenery.
Hideous Kinky journeys back to the early 1970s to Marrakesh, that hippy mecca for everyone from Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix to Gillies MacKinnon, the director of this movie. Here you'll find ...( read more )one nice but confused middle-class young woman escaping the daily grind of a drab London with her two young daughters in tow. Whereas Esther Freud's book was told from the younger girl's perspective, the film-script places Julia centre-stage as she searches for what she describes wistfully as "the annihilation of the ego."
Though fresh from her Titanic experience, Kate Winslet is no drippy hippy, bringing a refreshing feistiness to her role and looking fetching swathed in diaphanous layers. As her two daughters, Bella Riza (Bea, the wide-eyed younger one) and Carrie Mullan (Lucy, the sensible one) are brilliant discoveries--unselfconscious, charmingly quirky, and enjoying a camaraderie that belies their difference in characters. Completing the family unit is Julia's lover, the endearingly unreliable Bilal (a fiery performance from Saïd Taghmaoui). When the money runs out, their adventures begin and the resilience and practicality of the girls is contrasted throughout with the dreaminess of their mother, her sense of duty vying with her quest for self-discovery. Visually, it's a veritable feast as we're pitched from the color and cacophony of the marketplace to the dusty harshness of the mountains. And that elusive title--which is never explained in the film--is in fact a phrase coined by the girls as a term of approbation. --Harriet Smith
This film is one of my favs. It reminds me of my own struggle with my spirituality and then reminds me that I am who I am and only need to look within myself when I need answers.
I liked this alot. I like how Kate Winslet fights for women about body images. And she is not ashamed at all of her body (which is beautiful) and the showing of her body is tasteful - not pornography or sexual. I like Kate Winslet alot. And this movie made me want to travel. It was very good.
There is no big story here, no buildup of drama, and no real endgame. "Hideous Kinky" is a study of the family dynamics amongst this odd troupe. The acting is very good, especially the two children, and the on-location filming in Morocco is a treat. This film is definitely not for everyone, but if you are in to this type of movie, you should enjoy it. The single word that I would use to describe "Hideous Kinky" is 'honest'.
Fairly standard fare from another British film. I thought this had all the hallmarks of a debut film, until I looked up the director and saw he was an experienced 50 year old veteran. The film never really gets into the area you hope it will go, and always seems to take the easy way out in order not to get too complicated. The scenes somehow don't deserve the music they use, and I thought Kate Winslet seemed too young for the role, for I didn't quite believe her struggle was genuine. The highpoint was the performance of Saïd Taghmaoui, who was great in 'La Haine' and was also good whenever he was on screen here. Not enough though to merit recommending this to anyone, the visuals were just a little bit lacklustre, which is a shame considering that the location was Morocco. Average!
Great cinematography, and what a perfect display/debut of Winslet's talent. Her first film after Titanic, and what a beautiful, sexy, and realistic story of a single mother trying to find her "home." Great performances by all and highly recommended!
Kate Winslet is great in this movie, for some reason it struck a chord in me and I somehow related to it even before I was a single mother. Plus I was obsessed with Morocco at the time and the entire film is set there. Someday I will visit as well...
Not what I was expecting, it seemed a little too overcast by the hippie overtones and the after a while I didn't care for the journey of the characters, they became as lost as the film
Waste of TIME!! Very Weak movie, DO NOT WATCH, if you do end up watching it, side effects may include: Suicide, murder ramapages, road ramapage, any kinds of ways of harming yourself, and many others...
This is an amazing movie. The colours are beautiful and it is beautifully acted by Kate Winslet. Its a very moving story with great characters and experiences.
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