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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
At the centre of this story of family life is the contrast between the deadpan, phobic Kay and the manic, excessive Dawn (Sweetie). The film explores aspects of Australian life and the Australian psyche, and probes into the viewer's consciousness by showing the narrow boundary between eccentricity, madness, and normality.
Notes
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Both script-writer Louise Fox and director Andrew Traucki had roles in this film.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Different but the Same : Landscape and the Gothic as Transnational Story Space in Jane Campion’s Sweetie (1989) and Lucrecia Martel’s La Ciénaga (2001)
2024
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Screen Culture in the Global South : Cinema at the End of the World 2024; -
Great Australian Directorial Debuts
2016
single work
column
— Appears in: FilmInk , 14 March 2016; -
Why 2015 Will Be a Huge Year for Australian Films at the Australian Box Office — and Why It Doesn’t Matter
2015
single work
column
— Appears in: Daily Review , 10 April 2015; -
Grieving Secularism : Jane Campion's Secular Daughters in Spiritual Spaces
2012
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Studies in Australasian Cinema , vol. 6 no. 1 2012; (p. 73-85) 'New Zealand-born director Jane Campion's two feature films set in Australia, Holy Smoke (1999) and Sweetie (1989), each construct the desert or outback as a site of spiritual renewal. Set in contemporary contexts, both films reproduce the cultural myth of the Australian desert as the nation's 'spiritual' centre. For Holy Smoke, it is an imposed site of recovery and renewal following the enticements of the protagonist's decision to join an ashram on the tourist trail in India, whereas in Sweetie the desert is an escape from the neurosis inspired by suburban familial dysfunction. For both films, the desert 'heart' functions as a spiritual repository and site of transformation accessible to disillusioned, grief-stricken, suburban women. This article argues that these films construct white Anglo-Celtic women's embodiments as sites of anxiety about the limits of secularism and cultural space. Importantly, the narrative construction of barren, tasteless suburban homes and familial dysfunction produces a particular and partial representation of suburbia as banal, neurotic and exclusively occupied by white Anglo-Celtic 'mainstream' families. By focusing on the figure of grief and emptiness borne by women that underpins this representational strategy, I explore the ways in which the Derridean conception of proleptic mourning serves as a useful model for understanding links between secularism, space and loss. Here, secularism is negotiated through the construction of real, imagined and anticipated loss, including losses of patriarchal, white Christian hegemony within Australian cultural politics. In this sense, the desert is spatialized as an incursion upon melancholic anguish about the opening up of cultural space to difference.' (Author's abstract)
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y
Jane Campion
New York (City)
:
Routledge Taylor & Francis Group
,
2008
Z1786085
2008
single work
biography
'Jane Campion, one of the most celebrated auters of modern cinema, was the first female director to be awarded the prestigious Palme d'Or. In this first detailed account of Jane Campion's career, Verhoeven examines how contemporary film directors 'fashion' themselves as auters- through their personal interactions with the media, in their choice of projects, emphasis on particular filmmaking techniques and finally in the promotion of their films. Through analysis of key scenes from Campion's films such as The Piano, In the Cut, Sweetie and Holy Smoke, Verhoeven introduces the key debates surrounding this controversial and often experimental director. Features a career overview, a filmography and an extended interview with Campion on her approach to creativity.' (Publisher's blurb)
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Can a Screenplay Translate to Text? It's Academic
1991
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 1 June 1991; (p. 43)
— Review of Sweetie 1989 single work film/TV ; The Big Steal 1990 single work film/TV -
[Review] Sweetie and The Big Steal
1991
single work
review
— Appears in: Australasian Drama Studies , October no. 19 1991; (p. 118-120)
— Review of Sweetie 1989 single work film/TV ; The Big Steal 1990 single work film/TV -
[Review] Sweetie and The Big Steal
1991
single work
review
— Appears in: Australasian Drama Studies , October no. 19 1991; (p. 118-120)
— Review of Sweetie 1989 single work film/TV ; The Big Steal 1990 single work film/TV -
y
Jane Campion : Memory, Motif and Music
1992
Perth
:
Centre for Research in Culture and Communication (Murdoch University)
,
1995
Z1611493
1992
single work
criticism
Geraldine Bloustein examines several of Jane Campion's early films, focusing on the director's exploration of the role of daydreams and fantasies in people's lives, and how power and control in social and personal relationships can help to squash those daydreams. Bloustien proposes that Campion's strikingly original visual style allows these films to move away from traditional narrative techniques, and unfold through separate self-contained segments. She also notes that music is a frequently recurring motif in many of her films, suggesting that it is a highly significant cultural vehicle for the fantasies behind everyday life.
Among the films examined are: Peel (1983), Passionless Moments (1984), A Girl's Own Story (1986), Two Friends (1986), Sweetie (1989) and An Angel at My Table (1990).
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A Girl's Own Story : The Films of Jane Campion
1990
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Refractory Girl , January no. 34 1990; (p. 40-41) -
y
Jane Campion
New York (City)
:
Routledge Taylor & Francis Group
,
2008
Z1786085
2008
single work
biography
'Jane Campion, one of the most celebrated auters of modern cinema, was the first female director to be awarded the prestigious Palme d'Or. In this first detailed account of Jane Campion's career, Verhoeven examines how contemporary film directors 'fashion' themselves as auters- through their personal interactions with the media, in their choice of projects, emphasis on particular filmmaking techniques and finally in the promotion of their films. Through analysis of key scenes from Campion's films such as The Piano, In the Cut, Sweetie and Holy Smoke, Verhoeven introduces the key debates surrounding this controversial and often experimental director. Features a career overview, a filmography and an extended interview with Campion on her approach to creativity.' (Publisher's blurb)
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Brazen Brides, Grotesque Daughters, Treacherous Mothers : Women's Funny Business in Australian Cinema from Sweetie to Holy Smoke
2002
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Senses of Cinema , November-December no. 23 2002; Womenvision : Women and the Moving Image in Australia 2003; (p. 167-182) Contemporary Australian women filmmakers rework the romantic comedy genre to incorporate women and their experiences. -
More Than Meets The Eye : The Mediation of Affects in Jane Campion's Sweetie
1999
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Senses of Cinema , December no. 1 1999; 'An intriguing and sensitive discussion of Jane Campion's Sweetie (1989) that blends a personal, affective reading (specified as gender-based) with critical analysis in order to arrive at an understanding of the very complex way in which Campion's films address the viewer as female.' (Editor's abstract)
Awards
- 1990 joint winner New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards — Betty Roland Prize for Scriptwriting
- 1990 joint winner New South Wales State Literary Awards — Script Writing Award Joint winner with Laura Jones, An Angel at my Table.
- 1989 winner Australian Film Institute Awards — Best Original Screenplay
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