Sleeping Audience, Angry Critics

A Typical Australian Film

I won't judge the film sight-unseen, but 'Sleeping Beauty' beauty sounds like it's quite a difficult film to watch.

Here's an early report from Cannes.

Watched by a capacity audience on the opening night, the work of first-time director and novelist Julia Leigh left some viewers speechless with its graphic look at the sordid sex life of young high-class escort, Sara, played by Australian Emily Browning.

Between her university studies, various casual jobs and bizarre friendship with a suicidal drug addict, Sara, the working name of the ice-cold Lucy, is put to sleep for "erotic" sessions with wealthy old men.

The audience hurried out of Wednesday's screening, many lost for words.

"It's Eyes Wide Shut without the engagement," one woman said as she left.

The Hollywood Reporter's David Rooney was among the first to post a review of the film, labelling it "psychosexual twaddle".

"[It] will no doubt have its admirers, [but] it seems a long shot to attract a significant following or herald the arrival of a director to watch," he writes.

Awards Daily's Sasha Stone said the film was dull and anything but erotic. "The best thing about the film is how disturbing it is. The film's biggest problem is how boring it is," she writes on The Wrap website.

"Yes, even with a pretty, naked girl, full-frontal male nudity, prostitution, drugs and casual sex, Sleeping Beauty turns out to be very slow and a little dull."

I don't know what it's about. I don't really want to know now that I've read the article. It's just a little too predictable that Julia Leigh, novelist and first time director, turned in a film that really doesn't work for the audience. We've been getting PR spills for weeks now on this film, as if it was going to be the next great thing; that it's going to Cannes, that it's going to put a new exciting director on the map of Australian cinema; but really, the cat is out of the bag.

It's not winning audiences, it's alienating them.

Screen Australia is going to wash their hands and run like hell as it always does. People will be asking how come this film got made on public monies? They'd be right to ask; and the answer is because it's exactly the kind of film Screen Australia are looking for. Yep, you go, guys, you winners, you. LOL. Fuck me dead.

I feel like David St Hubbins in 'This is Spinal Tap' yelling during a performance of 'Jazz Odyssey' - to the crowd who presumably came to see a puppet show - "On bass, Derek Smalls. He wrote this."