Reason for choosing this movie
Beautiful Kate is all about redemption and coping up to face the mistakes from the past. It has a sense of history and truthfulness that is heartening and captivating for the audience. Rachel Ward presented a truly Australian movie with native sound track, the local slang, landscapes from the south and a tinge which adapts the story line that could happen in a farmer’s life. Craving for affection, love, intimate connection to others are deeply human needs and this cinema delves into sensitive areas of these family transgression that may not appeal to everyone. After Lantana a couple of years ago, Beautiful Kate has been successful in portraying the beauty of Australian cinema. “Half the film’s 10 AFI nominations were in acting categories with Ben Mendelsohn, Bryan Brown and Rachel Griffiths also getting nods” (Roach 2009).
Story-line
“Adapted from Newton Thornburg’s novel of the same name” (Ward n.d.). Beautiful Kate is the story surrounding a dysfunctional family down under. Bruce is a crabby man whose wife died of cancer leaving behind their four young kids. 40 year old the self-loathing, haunted and damaged writer Ned Kendall returns home after 20 years with his fiancée – Toni, an aspiring actress-cum-waitress to see his dying father – Bruce. Toni comes across Ned’s diary which recounts the sexual affairs of the three siblings – Ned, Cliff and Kate. Kate has a longing for affection after the loss of her mother and being raised by an emotionally distant father. Toni is upset and returns to the city. The diary goes this way around – After boozing with friends, Ned goes for swim where Kate seduces him and has sex. Kate instigates a fight between Cliff and Ned as Ned refuses further sex. Ned leaves Kate alone in the Christmas party who returns home with Cliff. Ned sees the corpse of Kate with Cliff’s crashed car. Cliff too commits a suicide. Sally speculates that Kate might also have had a sexual relation with Cliff and his suicide was due to remorse of incest. The truths about the past come to light with Sally’s inputs and Ned frees his thoughts about Kate and tries to patch up with estranged Bruce. He lets Bruce die unknown of the truth.
Critics’ Notebook
Beautiful Kate is the result of careful preparation and implementation.
Ward did a fantastic work on her directorial debut to the big screen by handling precisely a controversial subject at its core with finesse, delicacy and maturity. The beauty of her work is that she keeps the audience guessing with suspense throughout often switching back to the past scenes. She balanced such that she neither did stretch on nudity and incestuous sex nor did she shy away from occasional coarseness. She ensured that it’s beautifully adapted to the Australian environment. The black screen and car headlights going through the black is just the way Australian country side looks like when there’s no moon around. The scene where Ned and Sally prepare Bruce body was exceptionally touching. All scenes were apt except the frustration in sex scenes between Ned and Toni could be done so much better. Ward surely succeeded what she wanted to. “Some filmmakers want to make their audiences laugh. Some want to scare them. Some want to thrill them. I want to move them” (Bueatydul Kate n.d. p.2). It was a welcome step from the Production team to move away from the kangaroos shots and instead given a realistic picture of rural Australia. With US$4,300,000 as a budget the target was not a commercial movie but more of an art movie to reach out to the heart line of audience. The movie deals with a down-to-earth story line right from the first scene where a young girl takes a pee; and while Sally casually talks about a leech in her fanny – The tone being perfectly set here. The best part is that as the climax develops, the resolution which is pretty traditional is handled really nicely. Doll – the production house known for nurturing Australian talent has been able to come up with a brilliant film. “It’s just so rare to see a film that truly engrosses you, makes such an impact, and stays with you long after the final reel of film has spun out” (Lynch 2010). The film’s greatest asset is its cast. Bryan Brown and Ben Mendelsohn are both brilliant as the rough father and conflicted son, Rachel Griffiths’ carefully low-profiled role as the pragmatic Sally and both the youthful characters of Maeve Dermody (Toni) and Sophie Lowe (Kate) are also perfect fits. It was quite believable in the scenes of tension between Ned and Bruce. Sally keeps up with her act of just not over reacting to the wild things going around. The main theme hovers around Lowe’s natural performance with high flesh rate, unusual texture, delicacy and intricacy making her both sensual and scary.
The cinematography by Commins, also making his debut, has some classy and crafted work. Southern Australia has never been captured so well through the lenses. The deserted and uncongenial mountain landscapes, the bushy farm houses and breathtaking shots taken at the Flinders ranges and Wilpena Pound are simply striking. His work is able to set the context right by capturing the remote locations, the empty spaces, the isolation, the barren ochre earth, the characteristic tangled bark from the gum trees and the kookaburras in the distance. He must be particularly appreciated for the elegance of his work may it be the drought scorched paddocks or the beautiful moments as when Kate danced under the hose.
The editing by Veronika Jenet spot on with her seamless transitions between the varied tracks of colorful zest of the youth, apprehension and depression in the middle-age and dying despair of an aged man. The shift from the past into the present is handled effectively. At times it’s by the calling of a name or at times it’s a sharp noise or a sound of a boiling kettle provides the switch.
Tex Perkins and Murray Paterson have added intuitive value to the film with their guitar scores and must be appreciated for their original soundtracks which have helped Ward to move the audience. The country songs chosen for the soundtrack is exemplary and the dance sequel portraying the emotional climax is one of its kinds. “Fortunately Beautiful Kate is distinguished by the outstanding ensemble of actors, and resounding performances from Ben Mendelsohn and Bryan Brown” (The rugged outback location for Beautiful Kate 2009). The screenplay is based on an American novel written by Newton Thornburg in 1982. The script gave depth to each character bringing out its virtues and limitation. The film goes around the southern Australia and has been able to showcase the world a hidden part of this country. The film is also successful in highlighting the plight of the farmers in desolate Australia. The prosperous farmhouse filled with greenery shown in the past and the dry and penniless farms shown in the present provides a fairly good indication of the difficulty faced by them. This movie has brought to light arid conditions, lifestyle, clothing, daily chores of a pitiful farmer’s family and most importantly the cultural difference that a city goer (Toni) and that of the villager has. “The story is told with a depth of emotion rarely seen in modern cinema, and although it is not always an easy film to watch, Beautiful Kate is ultimately a deeply rewarding cinematic experience” (Hoginski 2010).
Summary
Ward grapples with the elements of repentance, catharsis, clemency and liberation of Newton Thornburg’s original work. Different generations of Australian cinema were brought under the same hood and Ward has been successful in delivering a unique, suggestive, absorbing, extremely irregular love story. “Beautiful Kate is an example of fabulous cinematography and is created for the mature art-house movie type; it may be a challenge for your regular movie goer” (Hunter 2009). This movie has high quality of technical prowess in cinematography, editing, and sound-effects. This is a boldly performed touching family tale with tinge of incest and suicide and is definitely a must watch.
Reference
Beautiful Kate, n.d. [Online] Road Show. pp.1-3. Web.
Hoginski, R., 2010. Beautiful Kate. [Online] Time off. Com. Web.
Hunter, B., 2009. Beautiful Kate review. [Online] Femail.Com. Web.
Lynch, S. 2010. Beautiful Kate. [Online] Web Wombat. Web.
Roach, V., 2009. Beautiful Kate stars Sophie Lowe Maeve Dermody lead AFI awards nominations. The Daily Telegraph. [Online] News Limited. Web.
The rugged outback location for Beautiful Kate, 2009. [Online] Road Show Films. Web.
Ward, R., n.d. Beautiful Kate. [Online] South Australia. 2010. Web.