Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.5

Sweetie Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 19, 2011

Nominated for the prestigious Palme d'Or Award at the Cannes Film Festival, Jane Campion's "Sweetie" (1989) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include the film's original theatrical trailer; three short films directed by Jane Campion; production gallery; making of featurette; conversation between film critic Peter Thompson and Jane Campion; and more. The disc also arrives with a 12-page illustrated booklet. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Sweetie

Sweetie is not easy to like. It has the same pure energy and awkward humor that could be found in many of Emir Kusturica’s best films, but there are also various sad, ominous, and at times overwhelmingly depressing overtones in it that are very difficult to endure.

The film is about a group of people who have parted ways after they apparently realized that they could not have a normal family. They are all disillusioned and wanting to be loved, often struggling to accurately express their feelings.

Young and beautiful Kay (Karen Colston, The Piano) desperately wants to fall in love but has absolutely no clue where to look for a boyfriend. Frustrated and confused, she visits a tea-leaf reader, who assures her that her misery will soon come to an end because a handsome young man with a question mark on his forehead would appear and claim her. Instead, Kay meets and claims Louis (Tom Lycos), who has a curly piece of hair hanging on his forehead and is already in a relationship with another girl. Soon after, Louis plants a small tree in Kay’s backyard.

Kay’s parents, Flo (Dorothy Barry) and Gordon (Jon Darling), have been together for years. They’ve shared the good and the bad and have never complained about their rocky relationship. But both have grown tired of each other, which is why Flo has recently walked away from Bob.

Having spent some time on the road, Sweetie (Geneviève Lemon, Suburban Mayhem), Kay’s nutty sister, has finally reappeared. She has come back home with a strange character (Michael Lake, The Final Stage), whom she is convinced is an important "manager". But he is only a junkie, who does not mind being treated like a toy.

Kay, Flo, Gordon and Sweetie reunite and attempt to have a family, but the experiment quickly backfires and all of them get hurt. Before they could publicly announce how they really feel about each other, Sweetie goes berserk and demands that the world, or worst-case scenario the neighborhood, begins recognizing the fact that she exists.

Jane Campion’s first feature film is a rough diamond. Depending on the viewing angle, it could be described either as enormously beautiful or remarkably disturbing piece of dramedy. Its story is simple but seminal, populated with characters that are absolutely impossible to forget.

Each of these characters is a dreamer. Kay dreams about having a normal life and a man who would love her as she is; Gordon dreams about having a strong family; Flo dreams about having the type of life other women her age enjoy; Sweetie simply wants to be the star she always has been in her family, but in the real world.

Moods and feelings change quickly. Early into the film, after Kay meets Louis, there is a certain sense of euphoria, a genuine feeling that sometimes ordinary people could get what they dream about. Then Sweetie appears and all hell breaks loose. The film gradually gets darker and edgier, and the beautiful dreams turn into nightmares.

Cinematographer Sally Bonger’s lensing is beautiful. The film overflows with light and color, and even the most disturbing scenes tend to look attractive and serene. The editing, however, is somewhat uneven.

Note: In 1989, Sweetie was nominated for the prestigious Palme d’Or Award at the Cannes Film Festival.

Sweetie Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Jane Campion's Sweetie arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

Supervised by director of photography Sally Bongers and approved by director Jane Campion, this new high-definition transfer looks very good. For example, it conveys wonderful depth and fluidity that are not present on Criterion's SDVD release of Sweetie. Color reproduction is also substantially better - the reds, blues, greens, browns, and blacks look rich and natural. On the SDVD release, the greens and blues (especially during the beach scenes) are bleeding. Detail is also improved. Even light is not in abundance, the various close-ups look very good. Edge-enhancement and macroblocking do not plague the transfer. My only complaint with this high-definition transfer pertains to the occasional contrast boosting that I noticed, mostly during the daylight scenes. Overall, however, the quality of the presentation is indeed very high. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Sweetie Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. For the record, Criterion have provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature.

The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track also represents a strong upgrade over the English Dolby Digital 5.1 track found on the SDVD release of Sweetie. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track has a notably stronger dynamic amplitude; the dialog is also crisper and clearer. The rear channels are not overly active, but certainly very intelligently used. There are no problematic pops, cracks, hissings, or audio dropouts to report in this review.

Sweetie Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Making Sweetie - stars Genevieve Lemon and Karen Colston recall their work in Sweetie, the unusual characters, the film's production history, etc. The conversation was recorded in 1989. In English, not subtitled. (23 min, 1080i).

• Short Films - three short films by Jane Campion. An Exercise in Discipline: Peel effectively launched the director's international career, after it won the short film Palme d'Or Award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1986.
  
  -- An Exercise in Discipline: Peel (1982) - in English, not subtitled. (9 min, 1080i).
  -- Passionless Moments (1983) - in English, not subtitled. (12 min, 1080i).
  -- A Girl's Own Story (1983) - in English, not subtitled. (27 min, 1080i).

• Jane Campion: The Film School Years - a fascinating conversation between film critic Peter Thompson and Jane Campion, produced for the Australian Film Television and Radio School in 1989. In English, not subtitled. (20 min, 1080i).

• Production Gallery - a gallery of images taken by photographer Regis Lansac. (108pi).

• Trailer - the original theatrical trailer for Sweetie. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080i).

• Commentary - this is the same audio commentary that appears on Criterion's SDVD release of Sweetie. It features director Jane Campion, screenwriter Gerard Lee, and director of photography Sally Bongers. Recorded in Sydney, Australia, in 2006. In English, not subtitled.

• Booklet - an illustrated booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Dana Polan.

Sweetie Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Sweetie is a strange but beautiful film by New Zealand's most prominent director, Jane Campion. Criterion's Blu-ray release of Sweetie represents a serious upgrade in quality over their SDVD release. I really hope that eventually we would also see a U.S. Blu-ray release of Jane Campion's fabulous The Piano. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.