Sleeping Beauty (2011)

Director:

Julia Leigh

Writer:

Julia Leigh (screenplay)

Release Date:

2 December 2011 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A haunting portrait of Lucy, a young university student drawn into a mysterious hidden world of unspoken desires.

Plot Keywords:

Student | Bed | Dinner Party | Sexuality | Job Interview

Awards:

1 win & 6 nominations

Cast

Bridgette Barrett	...	Dinner Waitress
Rachael Blake	...	Clara
Hannah Bella Bowden	...	Dinner Waitress
Emily Browning	...	Lucy
Alan Cardy	...	Dinner Guest
Peter Carroll	...	Man 1
Les Chantery	...	Driver
Benita Collings	...	Dinner Guest
Michael Dorman	...	Cook
Eden Falk	...	Thomas
Anni Finsterer	...	Train Riding Hairdresser
Mirrah Foulkes	...	Sophie
James Fraser	...	Guy with Ticket
Robin Goldsworthy	...	Flatmate
Vernon Hayman	...	Dinner Guest
Chris Haywood	...	Man 2
Paul He	...	Student Boyfriend
Hugh Keays-Byrne	...	Man 3
Amit Kelkar	...	Lecturer
Sarah Kinsella	...	Dinner Waitress
Ewen Leslie	...	Birdmann
Tammy Macintosh	...	Work Colleague
Ivy Mak	...	Business Woman
Tracy Mann	...	Waxing Beautician
Stephanie Menere	...	Dinner Waitress
Henry Nixon	...	Lucy's Ex-Boyfriend
Lauren Orrell	...	Dinner Waitress
Nathan Page	...	Businessman 2
Kelly Paterniti	...	Female Student - Bathroom
Lizzie Schebesta	...	Mansion Girl
Natalia Siwek	...	Dinner Waitress
Justin Smith	...	Hallelujah Businessman
Sarah Snook	...	Flatmate
Pearl Tan	...	Pedicure Beautician
Jamie Timony	...	Student Doctor
Joel Tobeck	...	Businessman 1
Sinisa Vrebac	...	Agent
Hannah Wang	...	Student Girlfriend
Daniel Webber	...	Spy Shop Assistant
Matthew Whittet	...	Chef - Dinner Party 1

Directed by
Julia Leigh

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Julia Leigh		screenplay

Produced by
Jessica Brentnall	....	producer
Sasha Burrows	....	associate producer
Jamie Hilton	....	executive producer
Michelle Russell	....	line producer
Timothy White	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Ben Frost

Cinematography by
Geoffrey Simpson

Film Editing by
Nick Meyers

Casting by
Nikki Barrett

Production Design by
Annie Beauchamp

Art Direction by
Jocelyn Thomas

Set Decoration by
Lisa Thompson

Costume Design by
Shareen Beringer

Makeup Department
Catherine Biggs	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Breeze Callahan	....	third assistant director
Dimitri Ellerington	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Claire Dignam	....	design assistant
Henry Downes	....	art runner
Greg Hajdu	....	construction coordinator
Ross Perkin	....	storyboard artist

Sound Department
Yulia Akerholt	....	dialogue editor
Paradox Delilah	....	sound assistant
Les Fiddess	....	foley artist
Sam Hayward	....	re-recording engineer
Robert Mackenzie	....	sound re-recording mixer
Gerry Nucifora	....	boom operator
Ben Osmo	....	sound recordist
Martin Oswin	....	foley mixer
Sam Petty	....	sound designer
Brooke Trezise	....	sound effects editor

Visual Effects by
Simon Alberry	....	data manager
Matthew T. Griffin	....	digital compositor
James Rogers	....	visual effects supervisor

Camera and Electrical Department
Sian Bates	....	second assistant camera
Sian Bates	....	video split operator
Andrew Johnson	....	steadicam operator
Wendy McDougall	....	still photographer
Matthew Spowart	....	second assistant "a" camera

Casting Department
Danny Long	....	casting associate
Diana Ward	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Elly Kamal	....	costume supervisor
Dan Owen	....	assistant costume stand-by
Christina Validakis	....	costume buyer

Editorial Department
Brad Dunn	....	digital conform editor
Olivier Fontenay	....	colorist
Katherine Heads	....	digital intermediate producer
Annabelle Johnson	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Alex Cardy	....	assistant to producer
Michael Horvath	....	production secretary
Louise McNicholl	....	location manager
Reza Mokhtar	....	caterer
Patrick Rohr	....	production runner
Cassandra Simpson	....	production coordinator
Nathan Smith	....	I/O operations liaison
Lucy Vorst	....	production accountant
Diana Ward	....	assistant to director

Thanks
Jane Campion	....	very special thanks
Bec Smith	....	very special thanks

Production Companies

• Screen Australia (presents)
• Magic Films (presents)
• Screen NSW (in association with)
• Deluxe Australia (in association with)
• Spectrum Films (in association with)
• Big Ears Productions (in association with)
• Fulcrum Media Finance (financed in association with)

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (2011) (Australia) (theatrical)
• First Distributors (2011) (Hong Kong) (all media)
• ARP Sélection (2011) (France) (theatrical)
• Klock Worx Company, The (2011) (Japan) (theatrical)
• MegaVision (2011) (Philippines) (theatrical)
• Shaw Organisation (2012) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Transmission (2011) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Vinny Filmes (2012) (Brazil) (theatrical)
• Capelight Pictures (2012) (Germany) (all media)
• Front Row Filmed Entertainment (2011) (United Arab Emirates) (all media) (Middle East)
• Incognito Films (2011) (Estonia) (all media)
• Incognito Films (2011) (Latvia) (all media)
• Incognito Films (2011) (Lithuania) (all media)
• Mares Filmes (2012) (Brazil) (all media)
• R Film (2011) (Turkey) (all media)
• Sundance Selects (2011) (USA) (all media)

Other Companies

• De Lane Lea  ADR recording
• Dolby Laboratories  sound mix
• Redline Sound Studios  adr and foley recording

Also Known As:

"Спящая красавица" - Russia
"Beleza Adormecida" - Brazil (imdb display title)
"Miegancioji grazuole" - Lithuania (imdb display title)
"Sleeping Beauty" - France (imdb display title)

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:MA | Japan:R15+ | South Korea:18 | UK:18 | France:-16 | USA:Not Rated | Philippines:R-18 (MTRCB) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | Singapore:R21 | Canada:16+ (Québec)

Filming Locations:

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Company:

Screen Australia

Trivia:

Before filming, Emily Browning was urged by director Julia Leigh to watch Lars von Trier's Antichrist (2009) and study Charlotte Gainsbourg's performance.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Lucy is telling her mom her credit card number she only says twelve digits. Visa cards have thirteen or sixteen.

Quotes:

Man 1:Rise up and walk, none of your bones are broken.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Ebert Presents: At the Movies: Episode #1.18" (2011)

Fantasy Time for Dirty Old Men

I like my movies odd, and I like my movies sexy. In general, when I review an odd, sexy movie, I want to be kind because I don't want filmmakers to stop making them. But there is a limit – and freshman director Julia Leigh's "Sleeping Beauty" is long on odd and short on sexy.

"Sleeping Beauty" is about a young woman named Lucy (Emily Browning) who is psychologically damaged. In fact, everyone Lucy encounters – an old boyfriend, co-workers at a temp job, the landlords with whom she lives – is damaged in one way or another: hostile, bitter, emotionally impenetrable. So Lucy, who is nothing if not experimental, takes a new job as a living blow-up doll for rich old men to play with (but never to "penetrate," as we are constantly reminded by the madam of the high-end brothel for which Lucy works).

Leigh's movie is basically a 100-minute peep show in which we observe Lucy and her peculiar acquaintances. It's an Australian production with French art-film pretensions; when someone pours a glass of tea or wipes down a tabletop, Leigh's camera lingers portentously. There is much unspoken angst in the film – but not to worry, because all of this somber silence will soon be broken by some kinky sex.

If I didn't know better (actually, I guess I don't), I'd wager that "Sleeping Beauty" was produced by a committee of dirty old men, several of whom get to appear in scenes with the fetching, young Browning. How else to explain numerous scenes in which these geezers, their twigs-and-berries on full display, spoon with the naked and unconscious girl, or mount her sleeping (drugged) body, or toss her recklessly onto the floor?

"Sleeping Beauty" is promoted as an "erotic drama," but while watching it I found myself empathizing with one of Lucy's customers, who complains: "The only way I can get a hard-on these days is if I swallow a truckload of Viagra."