Hideous Kinky (1998)

This movie addresses the search for spiritual meaning that propelled thousands of western hippies to North Africa and India in the late sixties and early seventies. Although the brain-dead hippie stereotypes are there, often with comedic effect, the narration follows Julie, a single mother played aptly by Kate Winslet, and her two young daughters on a quest for transcendental knowledge around Marrakech Morocco and the nearby villages. Although this is not Winslet's strongest performance (see Hamlet or Quills)her craftsmanship is superb in conveying the emotional turmoil that follows the trail of her character. Is Julie merely escaping from the drudgery of a cold water flat and a fourteen hour workday day in South London or is she on a serious path to spiritual awakening? Is she exposing her children to undue danger in a strange land or is she leading them on the adventure of a lifetime? Has she found the love of her life and a surrogate father for her daughers or has she thrust them into the hands of a polygamist bandit?

The story does not take the easy way out and answer these questions--we do admire Julie's strength of character in coping with them-- but rather twists on a few epiphanies experienced by her children. Winslet brings out the best in the children actors that play daughters Bea and Kate, and Assiz, a delightful steetwise Morrocan youth. As the movie opens the daughters beg Julie to return to London and to their father, a well known writer and poet who is maintaining a second family and a son in Kensington. Julie meets and starts a love affair with Belal, a Morrocan street performer and acrobat. The daughters beg for his acceptance but doubt his loyalty when, out of desparation and out of money, he takes them to the village of his family. The villagers welcome them warmly and throw flower petals over them but the scene is clouded by the presence of a woman who may be Belal's estranged wife.

Julie returns to Marrakech to find long overdue money has arrived from the father in London. Julie can finally make the pilgramage to the Sufi Sheik, her heart's desire all along, but daughter Bea, tired of turmoil and lack of security , asks to be left behind in Marrakech in the house of well-to-do friends. When Julie meets her Sheik a marvelously acted scene takes place where the Sheik, by asking simple earnest questions in a kindly manner draws out of Julie the realisation that her real purpose is to care for her daughters. Although she no longer fears death herself, she must face the more awesome fear of loosing her children. Julie returns to Marrakech to find Bea abandoned to the streets. A mother's worst nightmare comes true when Bea becomes deathly ill. Only taking Bea home to London can save her but there is no money for the trip.

Julie makes the sacrifice of giving up the spiritual life for the sake of her daughters, but, unexpectedly, it is Belal who makes the sacrifice that opens Bea's heart to Morroco.

The film is edited with a break-neck speed that conveys the exotic and strange experience of the young girls in Morroco. If the movie has a weakness, it is that it did not slow down and linger as the the love between Julie and Belal blossomed. In the end we are left with hope. We hope that in the director's cut unseen footage can be ressurected to give dramatic depth where it is needed. We hope Belal is not caught by the authorities; we hope somehow he and Julie can continue their love relation; and we hope that Bea returns to Morroco and is once again welcomed

Fmovies: The story of two young girls and their mother who leave London to live in Morocco to allow their mother, Julia, to discover herself. Once there they find many things ranging from love, happiness to poverty and loss against the backdrop of Morocco.

This is an interesting film that I must admit I did have high hopes for. All I heard about this was good with critics praising it pretty roundly. The story itself is pretty thin. It is not exactly linear as it focuses on experiences rather than a straight series of happenings. The effect of this to me was to make the film feel rambling and that it wasn't going anywhere - it certainly felt longer than it's 90 minute run time. The "adventures", for want of a better word, are very interesting and sometimes moving but they do give the impression that the film wants to give the audience a feeling or an experience rather than a story.

Visually the film is beautiful and Morocco is well shot - both breathtaking landscapes and realistic scenes of poverty, but this doesn't make up for the lack of story. Some people may feel that the scenery is enough to watch the film for but not me. The acting is also faultless - Riza and Mullan are excellent as Bea and Lucy, while Winslet is also strong as Julia. The main problem with the story is that it is quite focused on Julia and she is such a selfish, unpleasant character at times that it makes it hard to stay with her all the time. I didn't feel that I could learn anything from her travels and at times I was just amazed that such a spoilt Westerner would just act in such a way as to hurt her daughters either directly or indirectly. The daughters were great characters and were worthy of all the interest and sympathy that the script gives them. But Winslet's character is a major turn-off.

Overall it looks great with great performances. But the lack of a coherent story or message is a bit frustrating and can make it feel a bit aimless.

Hideous Kinky is based on the semi-autobiographical novel by Esther Freud (descended from a certain Swiss Psychiatrist). The film, set in the 1960's, follows Julia, a young English mother with her small children, Bea and Lucy, recently divorced from her creative, and philandering, husband. She is in Morocco, like many young Europeans inspired by the counter-culture philosophy of the time, to explore herself with respect to its eastern philosophy and culture.

It would be so easy for a film with such a subject to fall into the trap of using the 'orient' as merely a backdrop to depict fun backpackers engaging in pseudo-spiritual experiments. Or, on the other hand, take a more malevolent track of exploiting the bad feeling between Europeans and Arabs by having the bright young Julia encounter the traditional savage, woman-hating Arab as depicted in most western films, and pioneered by Valentino in Hollywood's silent classic The Sheik (1921).

However Hideous Kinky is refreshing as it is fun and 'exotic', but does not compromise in its sense of responsibility. It attempts to show an intelligent, though wayward, young mother with the genuine desire to explore her self internally, and captures the richness and humanity of the country and its people around her, exhibiting their interesting religious life and culture.

The feel of place in the film is astonishing. Marrakech, with the narrow streets and courtyards of its old town, dark and forbidding, but also revealing wonder, and the surrounding desert, are filmed deliciously with ambition and assurance. Julia, as well as being part of the 'drop out' European expat community, finds herself accessing different strands of Moroccan society, the common society of Morocco via her relationship with Bilal, a shady character who turns out to be a convict, played wonderfully by Said Taghmaoui, and the higher rungs via her ex-husband's friend, Santoni.

Central to the film- and what also complicates it, giving it an added, new dimension- is Julia's relationship with her two children, played astoundingly well by Bella Riza and Carrie Mullan. They, in turn, have their own incredible experiences, good and bad, as shown by their delightful but confused sayings. Julia, unusually in film, is a complex female character with many shades. She is naïve, foolish and irresponsible. At one point, she even manages to lose one of her daughters. But she is also smart, soulful and canny, and from her time in Morrocco, Julia does gain an insight into her self, but it is not the insight that she expected, and perhaps it is a genuine insight for that reason. She is played by Kate Winslet with characteristic heart and intelligence, and a brave choice as she had just come off the safety of the glitzy but vacuous blockbuster, Titanic.

Hideous Kinky is a rare thing- despite being government financed, usually the kiss of death for a British film, it is a refreshing and responsible film about an unconventional encounter between European and Arab.

Hideous Kinky fmovies. "Hideous Kinky" is not a plot-driven movie but more of a meditation on time and place. And I can live with that. The photography is so rich with colors and beautiful locales, I want to visit Morrocco. The acting in splendid across the board with particular note to the two young girls who were handed quite a bit of duty with the roles. Where this movie failed me is in the character played by Kate Winslet. She behaves with such selfishness and stupidity--not once--but over and over again, that I really grew to dislike her. Sure...she may be a young, naive, adventurous, hippie in the early '70's, but a I refuse to believe she didn't realize what kind of danger she was putting her children in. "Hideous Kinky" is a good movie--not great. And it's good for one viewing, maybe two for the cinematography.

This is simply a beautiful film, breathtakingly shot, with wonderful acting especially so by Carrie Mullan. Of the two girls who play the daughters of Kate Winslet, she rightly so has the (even if only slightly so) bigger acting part. Refreshingly free of a rigorous story line, you can just enjoy the atmosphere and exquisite photography. And, of course the actors. Winslet is her usual self, solid acting, and she's apparently not afraid to show herself in a less than perfect physical appearance, against the Standard-Issued-Hollywood-Bodies culture. A leeettle chubby, she's the perfect reflection of Greek sculpture. Mullan's mimic is very grown-up, Riza is good, though at times her inexperience shines through and Taghmaoui is quite sympathetic. The nudity in this film should not be considered daring in this day and age, and is thus true to the film's era. The makers obviously thought something like: 'Shove it, if this arouses or excites you, there's something very wrong with you' and i salute them for it.

8/10 The Melancholic Alcoholic.

It has been quite a while since I saw this film (I viewed it in the theatres when it opened), but I read some of the negative user comments and decided to throw in my 2 cents.

I remember not having a clue what to expect as I walked into the theatre as I had heard nothing of the film and was accompanying a friend who wanted to see it.

I also remember being touched by the performances of all involved, especially Ms. Winslet and her lovely on-screen children. The scenery was beautiful and the story was a poignant journey into the life of a young family uprooted from their London home to travel to the Moroccan countryside. As the final scene ended and the credits began I remember sighing with enjoyment and satisfaction at an hour and a half of viewing pleasure.

While the movie will not appeal to everyone, I must say that it is nice to sit and watch a simple film that is not bursting with gore, nudity and profanity for a change.

A surprise treat!