Holy Smoke!

Holy Smoke! is a 1999 Australian drama film directed by Jane Campion, who co-wrote the screenplay with her sister Anna. It premiered at the Venice Film Festival and was shown at the New York Film Festival and the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival before being released theatrically.

[edit] Plot synopsis
During a trip to India, Ruth Barron has a spiritual awakening and embraces the teachings of a guru named Baba. Back home in the Sydney suburb of Sans Souci, her parents are appalled to learn their daughter now answers to the name Nazni and has no intention of returning. They concoct a tale about her father Gilbert having had a stroke and being on the verge of death, and her mother Miriam travels to India in hopes of convincing her to come home, with no success until she suffers a serious asthma attack. Ruth agrees to accompany her on her return flight.

Miriam arranges a reunion with Gilbert, who supposedly is recuperating in the Outback, and this charade lands Ruth in the clutches of P.J. Waters, an American exit counselor who deprograms members of religious cults. In a remote cabin, he isolates Ruth, separates her from her sari and religious props, challenges her faith in Baba, and slowly wears her down. As she begins to weaken, Waters finds himself sexually attracted to her, and in time Ruth allows him to seduce her. She then turns the tables on him, as she discovers her sexuality allows her to make mincemeat of his long-held beliefs as a macho, misogynist male.


[edit] Production notes
The film was made on location in Delhi and Pushkar in India and Sydney and Hawker in the Flinders Ranges in South Australia. Interiors were filmed at Fox Studios Australia.

The film grossed $1,758,780 in the US and $1,821,943 in foreign markets for a worldwide box office of $3,580,723 [1].


[edit] Principal cast
Kate Winslet ..... Ruth Barron
Harvey Keitel ..... P.J. Waters
Julie Hamilton ..... Miriam Barron
Tim Robertson ..... Gilbert Barron
Sophie Lee ..... Yvonne
Daniel Wyllie ..... Robbie
Paul Goddard ... Tim
Pam Grier ... Carol