Sleeping Beauty

While most critics hated Sucker Punch, alot of people was suprised why actress Emily Browning choosed to be apart of that movie. Maybe she just wanted to kill zombies and show herself in short skirts? Personally i didnt care much for the movie itself, it was filled with action, but with one messed up story that made no sense. When i heard Emily Browning was to do an updated version of Sleeping Beauty, the classic fairytale, i didnt really bother to read about it. Until i heard the reviews from the Cannes Festival. Some called it disgusting, while others thought it was in the style of director Almodovar. So, is this a brand new start for Emily Brownings career?

Lucy ( Emily Browning ) is an college student, working as a waitress, as well as a prostitute at an exclusive bar. She often visits a so called friend, known as Birdman ( Ewen Leslie ), where she drinks and pretend to be interested in his life. One day, she gets an offer from an add, to be apart of a gentlemens club, dressed in lingerie. She begins working for this exclusive gentlemens club, but things are becoming different than what she thought this would be.

If you hate european cinema, in style of director Pedro Almodovar, then stop reading right now. Sleeping Beauty is definitely not for everyone. On the other hand, if you love intelligent film making, then this might actually suprise you. Its a slow motion picture, but somehow director Julia Leigh manages to capture the feeling of female sensuality, in a different way than most movies. There is a lot of nudity, and sexually revealing scenes, but they have a purpose. Some of the scenes shot at the gentlemen´s club remind me of Stanley Kubrick´s last motion picture Eyes Wide Shut, very elegantly made. There are some controversial scenes, that could be offensive. All together, this is a pretty solid piece of work, quite different from anything ive seen for quite some time. And Emily Browning does a very good performance, as a new generations Sleeping Beauty, stuck in a destructive world. Its a shame some parts are very boring at moments, since alot of scenes makes a strong impact. This could have been even more controversial. But it definitely worth watching, youre not gonna find anything like this in your dvd store on new releases, trust me.

Rating: DDD