XOmizditzXO
I walked in on the middle of this film, but it was very cool to watch this movie! I din't think the people were shallow, I just felt there needed to be more explained in the story, because some parts didn't make sense.As far as sexual scenes I walked in on the part before Bilal jumps into the lake and before Bea insists there father has forgotten about them and from there on I saw no-sexual themes(besides Bilal's bare bottom when he runs into the lake) I quite enjoyed this movie and did not find it boring. Despite the title it is not a very adult movie, the most violence I saw was a vase being thrown, and she threw the F-bomb around casually a couple of times. Overall I found this movie to be very enjoyable and I would definitely recommend it.
Afzal Shaikh
Hideous Kinky is based on the semi-autobiographical novel by Esther Freud (descended from a certain Swiss Psychiatrist). The film, set in the 1960's, follows Julia, a young English mother with her small children, Bea and Lucy, recently divorced from her creative, and philandering, husband. She is in Morocco, like many young Europeans inspired by the counter-culture philosophy of the time, to explore herself with respect to its eastern philosophy and culture.It would be so easy for a film with such a subject to fall into the trap of using the 'orient' as merely a backdrop to depict fun backpackers engaging in pseudo-spiritual experiments. Or, on the other hand, take a more malevolent track of exploiting the bad feeling between Europeans and Arabs by having the bright young Julia encounter the traditional savage, woman-hating Arab as depicted in most western films, and pioneered by Valentino in Hollywood's silent classic The Sheik (1921).However Hideous Kinky is refreshing as it is fun and 'exotic', but does not compromise in its sense of responsibility. It attempts to show an intelligent, though wayward, young mother with the genuine desire to explore her self internally, and captures the richness and humanity of the country and its people around her, exhibiting their interesting religious life and culture.The feel of place in the film is astonishing. Marrakech, with the narrow streets and courtyards of its old town, dark and forbidding, but also revealing wonder, and the surrounding desert, are filmed deliciously with ambition and assurance. Julia, as well as being part of the 'drop out' European expat community, finds herself accessing different strands of Moroccan society, the common society of Morocco via her relationship with Bilal, a shady character who turns out to be a convict, played wonderfully by Said Taghmaoui, and the higher rungs via her ex-husband's friend, Santoni.Central to the film- and what also complicates it, giving it an added, new dimension- is Julia's relationship with her two children, played astoundingly well by Bella Riza and Carrie Mullan. They, in turn, have their own incredible experiences, good and bad, as shown by their delightful but confused sayings. Julia, unusually in film, is a complex female character with many shades. She is naïve, foolish and irresponsible. At one point, she even manages to lose one of her daughters. But she is also smart, soulful and canny, and from her time in Morrocco, Julia does gain an insight into her self, but it is not the insight that she expected, and perhaps it is a genuine insight for that reason. She is played by Kate Winslet with characteristic heart and intelligence, and a brave choice as she had just come off the safety of the glitzy but vacuous blockbuster, Titanic.Hideous Kinky is a rare thing- despite being government financed, usually the kiss of death for a British film, it is a refreshing and responsible film about an unconventional encounter between European and Arab.
Lee Eisenberg
When we watched "Hideous Kinky" a few years ago, it seemed like a period piece: it looked at the days when people could go to a place like Morocco and not have to fear for their lives. Since September 11, 2001, it's become even more of a period piece.Is it a good movie? Even if the movie's no masterpiece, it's good just to be able to see Kate Winslet as a Swinging London flower child taking her daughters to Morocco, where she strikes up a relation with a local man. That probably would be dangerous nowadays.So see it just for that. Given the current state of the world, you may not have much more time to watch it.
rfertell
Interwoven stories focused attention on side plot lines. The mother, the friends and their hosts in there travels who took them in for safety never gave the viewer an indication the kids or mother would be healthy, secure and taken care of where they would be in an alright, safe , healthy environs. There were moments the viewer was becoming quite anxious regarding the plot action, whereby they went in different directions in what we knew were fraught with possible medical, social and sexual dangers. Almost Hitchkockian in the use of the " mc guffin " A plot device was the question... who was taking care of whom. I Started watching and after two minutes I was hooked. Then there was the music. It was so good yet so out of place it gave you a personnal connection to the film and the story. This movie is not to be watched in a cursury manner. To watch this you must put the two hours aside and fall into this film. Twenty years from your friends will be impressed you knew it so well.
