Title: Sleeping Beauty
Director: Julia Leigh
Writer: Julia Leigh
Stars: Emily Browning, Rachael Blake, Ewen Leslie
Certificate: 18
Duration: 101 minutes
When I first read the words ‘Sleeping Beauty’ I thought that the Disney Classic was being released or re-leased on Blu-ray. I thought that’d be enjoyable to watch until I figured out that this was something very different.
Lucy (Emily Browning) is a young university student that has to endure menial jobs to pay for her university fees. She takes the opportunity to be a waitress, but it’s a job with a twist – all the waitresses are dressed in lingerie. However she is unaware that she is actually being secretly groomed for a very different job – one of a depraved and demeaning nature.
Lucy is to be sedated and will work as a ‘sleeping beauty’ a girl who will be unaware of what is happening to her while she is unconscious – at the hands of several paying customers. It’s not long until the psychological effects of her new employment being to bleed through into her waking life and she is left wondering what has happened to her.
Straight away I felt that this film would be difficult to watch, but that there was also a good probability that in some way it’d ultimately be rewarding and possibly uplifting.
I realised that there might be some scenes of soft-core titillation, but I hoped that it would also have wonderfully brave and distinctive performances and that the film would focus on the psychological aspects of Lucy’s job rather than any of the perverted happenings that were likely to take place. I was hoping that any nudity or sexual content would be handled with complete sensitivity.
One thing I will say is that I believe that the depiction of forced sex has no place on the cinema screen. No place at all. Ever. That said I’m not going to give a personal opinion upon whether this film is depraved or morally unacceptable. All I will say is that there are several scenes that could certainly be considered crude and to anyone’s sensibilities perverted.
As for the cast, Browning produces a fearless performance, one that proves she is capable of anything. The sexual scenes alone must have been hard to film, but the medical scenes could not have been easy either. Quite why she should want to push herself to these limits as an actress is beyond my understanding, but it is an audacious performance. The supporting characters are mostly physically, or morally, repugnant and the cast do a very believable job of bringing these characters to life.
Leigh’s direction is impressive, especially as this is her debut film. It’s observational in approach, yet her confidence as a director is evident and her directorial mark is clearly stamped on the film. I’m not exactly sure what Leigh, or the film, is trying to say; be it politically, socially or psychologically, but her skills as a director are unquestionable.
I could perhaps argue that there is an element of art in Sleeping Beauty, but I’d have to concede that underneath any art there still lies some form of exploitation. Sleeping Beauty will certainly provoke debate amongst viewers and film scholars alike. Opinions will, as always, be divided. Some viewers may not be willing to endure the entire film in order to draw their own conclusions but I certainly wouldn’t condemn anyone for that. This is a visceral and gritty film and it’s certainly not going to be palatable to everyone.
Ultimately therefore, whilst I may be able to see some merits, I can not whole-heartedly recommend it. Should you choose to watch this film or not, will be reliant upon your own tastes and sensitivities.
