Sweetie (1989) 

Jane Campion's debut film is very much a first-time feature, the transitions between different sequences are a bit clumsy and something about this movie just feels unfinished. But despite all of this, I couldn't stop myself from loving Jane Campion's Sweetie. I adore movies about dysfunctional families, and this is a very great example of that specific subgenre.

  

We follow Kay, a young woman who is weirdly hang up on superstition, when she starts a relationship with her coworker’s fiancée because the tea leaves have told her so. They move in together and go live in the suburbs, but after a year of being together, their relationship reaches an impasse. They're not able to have sex together anymore and Kay doesn't even want to sleep in the same bed. But one day, Sweetie, Kay's unstable sister, crashes into their house and starts wrecking the monotonous homelife they got so accustomed to. 

 

 

Sweetie is like a giant child, she often throws a wild tantrum and she experiences every emotion, the good and the bad ones, bigger than any adult should. She and Kay never got along since their father always placed Sweetie on a pedestal, which created a competitive relationship between the two, and it quickly becomes clear to the viewer and Louis that they bring out the worst in each other. 

The way this movie presents Sweetie as a straight up bitch most of the times might be a quite problematic portrayal of a mentally ill person, but at least Campion also shows that her family members are all incapable of handling her and are just not fit to give her the proper support system she needs, which probably only worsened her condition. Her father never set any boundaries for her and always praised everything she did, which gave her unrealistic expectations of the actual world and even as an adult she keeps chasing the unreachable dreams her father has implanted in her. This favoritism also caused a jealousy between Sweetie and Kay, who is unable to actually talk to her sister, but rather fights her, both verbally and physically, like they’re both still 10 years old. And the mother just seems to not care, stopped giving a shit years ago and doesn't even ask Sweetie to come visit her. There is also a suggestion of an incestuous relationship between Sweetie and her father that would've certainly fucked her up in many ways. 

This movie feels very much like a dream, or rather a distant memory of which you mostly remember certain images and emotions rather than the entire thing. The characters seem to inhabit a world that is vaguely familiar and quite surreal at the same time, like they're living in some kind of waking life. Campion lingers on certain prosaic details like a flowery carpet or broken little horse toys, in a manner that slowly creeps up on you like a dream. And I know comparing a surreal movie to David Lynch is shortsighted and very much like beating a dead horse, but since Campion herself has referred to him several times as an inspiration of some kind, I don't think this is that far-fetched. Certain depictions of suburban lifestyle definitely brought Blue Velvet to mind, and even the way the actors deliver their lines (a beat or two slower than they should) is very Lynchian. There is scene in here involving dancing cowboys that wouldn't have been out of place in a movie like Wild at Heart, a movie that of course would come out a year later. And just like Lynch his work, Sweetie is both sad, awkwardly hilarious and wildly uneven at places.