Holy Smoke (1999) - Jane Campion

While visiting India, Ruth, a headstrong Australian woman, experiences a spiritual awakening, embracing the teachings of a guru named Baba.  Back in Sydney, Ruth's parents couldn't be more distraught to learn of their daughter's new spiritual path, fearing she has no intention to ever return to Australia.  In a last ditch effort, Ruth's mother travels to India, but is only successful in getting Ruth to come home after  pretending that Ruth's father is ill.  With Ruth now back in Austrialia, her family hires P.J, a macho American expert in cults and depogramming, whom the family hopes can break Ruth of the Baba's spiritual grasp.  Jane Campion's Holy Smoke is a stylish examination of sexual politics, family, religion, and spirtualism, that misses the mark as much as it succeeds, being fascinating but full of half-baked ideas.  Holy Smoke is a film that will be difficult for casual viewers but its deconstruction of gender roles, through the relationship beween Ruth and PJ, is the strongest aspect of the film.  What begins as a teacher-student dynamic that sees PJ possessing the power is quickly subverted, when Ruth discovers of the older PJ's sexual attraction to her.  Using her body as a device, Ruth gains power through sex over PJ, slowly shattering his long-shrouded misogynistic principles layered in his psyche.  The teacher becomes the student in this twisted little game, but both character's reach a sense of enlightment through this shattering of beliefs.  For me, Campion's film seems to be about acceptance, whether it be spiritual beliefs or value systems, doing so in a unconventional way that doesn't always work.  Dismantling gender myths and creating a unique look at the importance of spiritual acceptance, Jane Campion's Holy Smoke is a flawed but fascinating film.  

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