Here, for 19-minutes, Campion talks about her love of making films (which doesn’t feel like work) and talks about her short features. We then get an archival interview of sorts from 1989 (looking to have been made for an Australian film school) between Jane Campion and critic Peter Thompson, under the heading Jane Campion: The Film School Years. Decent though still manages to feel a little long, but again the photography and style are a sign of things to come from the director. And then finally there is the 26-minute A Girl’s Own Story, which is more narratively driven than the other three, focusing around a group of school girls in the 60’s and their experiences which I won’t really spoil here. The 12-minute Passionless Moments is probably my favourite of the three, a rather humourous, clever and quick look at ten people and the meaningless moments that most take for granted but seem to be important, maybe even defining to the people within the film. ![]() It’s an interesting look at a dysfunctional family, with some intriguing camera shots and framing, creating an almost unnerving experience at times. They also talk a bit about the Australian film industry then and now and then the acceptance of the film in Australia and abroad (it was apparently far more popular outside of Australia.) It’s actually a very breezy and funny piece, and it offers an extension to the commentary track.Ĭriterion next includes a 3 short films by Campion, starting with the 9-minute An Exercise in Discipline: Peel, which follows a man, his son, and the boy’s aunt on a road trip of some sort, which explodes into a fairly ridiculous battle of wills after the boy discards of orange peels out the passenger window. They talk in great detail about the specific blocking of sequences, and the limitations they faced because of Campion’s vision, and unsurprisingly they were shocked with how the final film turned out (they admit they didn’t really understand it while filming). The two carry on a fairly lively conversation about the making of the film, from when they first joined the cast to the release at Cannes (where the film was unsurprisingly met with “boos”). They also examine the characters, the motivations, and things people have taken from the film (like a scene where some saw the possibility an incestuous relationship had taken place, though I do like Campion’s explanation for the scene.) Not too surprisingly the track is heavily technical and the participants are more concerned about the actual production, but it’s an incredibly engaging, surprisingly loose (occasionally funny) commentary that’s worth listening to if you’re fond of the film or Campion’s work in general.įollowing this is Making Sweetie, a 23-minute conversation between actresses Genevieve Lemon and Karen Colston. ![]() Once Lee shows up the focus shifts primarily over to the writing of the film and the basis of the two protagonists, who are based on Lee and Campion, a couple at the time, to some extent (though Lee says that since the film is ultimately through Campion’s eyes, and the character of Louis, who is based on Lee, has been skewered a bit from how he wrote him, and probably represents how Campion saw Lee). Campion and Bongers open the first 30-minutes or so of the track (why Lee is missing initially I’m unsure, the two women promising he’ll show up eventually) and spend a good portion of their alone time talking about the techniques used in the film including the editing and the framing, which can apparently be attributed partially to the fact Bongers is afraid to move the camera. Criterion puts together a rather impressive single-disc edition and give us a satisfying collection of supplements starting with an audio commentary by director Jane Campion, cinematographer Sally Bongers, and co-writer Gerard Lee.
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