Sleeping Beauty (2011), Julia Leigh
4/5
Such an intriguing and sensuous Australian film with a great performance by Emily Browning, who plays the main character Lucy/ Sarah. The cinematography style is somewhere between Stanley Kubrick (Eyes Wide Shut) and the films of Sophia Coppola (The Virgin Suicides, Marie Antoinette). With it's slow moving camera, eerie quietness and blandly held shots. The dialogue is sparse and the film has a slow pace, which may not please mainstream audiences. This combined with the nudity and strange content, which may explain the mixed reviews. The film isn't about feminist agenda or overt sexuality. Rather it is a psychological drama, yet emotionally dissociated, focusing instead on the beautiful imagery. It is rich with metaphor in both the storyline and the visuals paralleling the traditional sleeping beauty fairytale in complex ways, bringing it both to a modern level while at the same time paying homage to the dark narrative of the original. Overall this is a mysterious, and strangely intriguing film, and whether you like it or not, it is definitely worth viewing.
Analysis
***SPOILERS***
This film explores such interesting themes and while it is laced with sexual innuendo and tension, there are no actual sex scenes, nor is there any kissing. However these themes are strongly conveyed through the use of visual metaphor and repetition of shots. For instance alongside the repeated statement of the madam Clara (played by Rachel Blake) that "you will not be penetrated", which she repeats to Lucy who she re-names "Sarah", but also repeats to each client a number of times throughout the film. In actual fact there are only a couple of instances in which Lucy is penetrated; she is repeatedly penetrated while taking part in medical experiments by a male researcher who she refers to as "Dr. Frankenstein" and he humorously calls her "Frankenstein's monster". In my opinion this indicates the role of science and medicine in the modern world and influence on our bodies and psychology. Considering that Lucy works in a number of odd jobs, she appears not only blithely sexual in nature, but "selling" her body in a number of ways. Firstly selling her body for scientific research, proffering people for sex in bars, working as a lingerie clad silver service waitress and finally as a "sleeping beauty".
Above: 1st instance and Below: 2nd instance where Lucy is orally penetrated as part of research study
Below: 3rd instance in which Lucy is orally penetrated by the 2nd "prince"
Lucy seems to have a craving for sensual encounters, including the seduction, yet unrequited scene with a woman snorting cocaine (See below). Repeatedly throughout the film Lucy is seen imbibing a number of different state altering substances and alcohol. These are contrasted with the sleeping beauty "potion" or powdered sedative that she drinks as a tea very much framed as if she is having tea with her mother in a formal lounge. Colour and light are especially important in conveying meaning in this film. Lucy is often dressed in dark blues and greys which are contrasted with the white lingerie she wears while working as a silver service waitress (see below). Also it seems that Lucy's marble like pale skin is also appealing to the clients and further re-enforces the white virginal metaphor in contrast to the other women dressed in black which are more revealing than "Sarah"'s outfit which leaves more to the imagination. Contrastingly is the large portion of nudity that is in the film, much of which is non-sexual in nature. It appears that each client or "prince" takes a different approach and fulfils different desires in their sleeping beauty encounters.
Above: Lucy snorts cocaine with a woman she meets at a bar
Below: Lucy's first night working as Silver service waitress
Above: After her first night working at the dinner service, Lucy comes home to silently set fire to a 100 dollar note, seemingly indifferent to money despite being somewhat broke and trying to make rent.
Above: Lucy lying down at her temp job in this grey environment contrasting the beauty seen in her other job as a "sleeping beauty". Her experience is focalised because she is central in many shots.
Above: Lucy proffers oral sex to a man in a bar, notice her dark dress and the dark lighting of the shot.
Above: the repeated shot of Lucy as a sleeping beauty
Below: 1st "prince"
The first client/ prince says a long monologue to Clara telling a story of a man who feels dead while alive, voicing in allegory his own longing for youth and danger, as the man in the story only feels alive after being in a car accident. The second "prince"/ client while telling Clara that he doesn't want a sexual encounter with "Sarah" goes on to brutally inspect her while sleeping, throwing sexual "insults" at her while "choking" her by sticking his fingers down her throat (see above). The 3rd "prince" seems more relaxed and picks up Lucy, as if she is a bride over the threshold, mimicking the traditional idea of a prince rescuing a princess. However it breaks down the visual metaphor as he struggles to carry Lucy as a "dead" weight and Lucy drops to the floor, still sleeping in a state impervious to pain.
Above: the 3rd "prince" carries Lucy
Below: the 3rd prince drops Lucy on the floor
Below: Lucy appears to have a growing obsession with what happens while she is working as a sleeping beauty. This isn't stated in dialogue, instead it is conveyed visually when she strokes a sleeping woman's face, on the train.
Below: The only consensual and unpaid relationships Lucy has in the film is with her friend who is a drug addict and her one night stand with a guy she works with at her waitressing job (see below). In both these relationships she appears naked and nudity has specific connotations in the film. Lucy appears to equate affection with the submission of nudity or sexual relationships, as is demonstrated in the scene where her dying friend asks her to take her shirt off.
While Lucy appears emotionally distant throughout the film, she is capable of strong emotions, which are demonstrated upon her realisation that her drug addicted friend refuses to go to rehab again and then when he is dying, she cries, while embracing him in bed. The repeated sleeping and bed imagery signify the differences in Lucy's relationship between each of the men and women in the film. In my opinion this is more interesting and conveys a special significance of the state of sleep itself, rather than being a simple analogy for sex. Thus, sleep represents a captured and elusive state of unawareness and Lucy's obsession with attempting to know what happens in the room.
Above: Clara gives Lucy mouth to mouth to rouse her from slumber
While there isn't much overtly lesbian themes in the film, it is important to note the critical differences from the traditional tale. While Clara, the madam, represents the "evil" sorceress who puts her to sleep using the tea and powder she is also crucially the one he rouses Lucy from her slumber, awakening her with a "kiss", but instead she gives her mouth-to-mouth fearful that Lucy is dead. This importantly reverses the gender roles in the story, empowering the female characters sexually and in general. Another modern touch is the insertion of her mother as a shady character and not mentioning her father at all. In this way, it subtly demonstrates the issues Lucy has with establishing boundaries in relationships. As such Clara acts as both mother figure and evil sorceress, both by putting her to sleep and protecting her, by rousing her from sleep. Another interesting parallel is that the men are victims of sleep or death, as her friend dies beside her of a drug overdose, which she doesn't attempt to help, merely lying by his side, which is exactly repeated by the man who overdoses on the sleeping "potion" while she works as a sleeping beauty. This reflects a reversal of roles as Lucy awakens, while the prince dies, similar to the "Romeo and Juliet" story, and explains why Lucy wakes and realising the man beside her is dead begins screaming, framing her sense of helplessness and dissociation breaking open her awareness as a literal "awakening".
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