I liked this film. I recall purchasing the Esther Freud novel a few years ago and I honestly must say that reading it was a pretty tedious affair; even for a novel, its pace was sometimes excruciatingly slow and its adequate use of character development greatly marred by the story's very weak plot. When I heard that director Gillies Mackinnon was producing a film adaptation of Hideous Kinky I had very large doubts. From reading the first few pages of the book, you could tell that this was not something that could be adapted to screen with ease.
Hideous Kinky (its mysterious title derived from the two girls' favourite words) is a semi-autobiographical story by Esther Freud, concerning her time in Morocco during the early seventies. Julia (Kate Winslet) and her two daughters Bea (Bella Riza) and Lucy (Carrie Mullan) have left London and Julia's husband (a character that is often talked of but intriguingly never seen) in order to move to Africa, living an unstable life in the north of Morocco. Soon Julia meets Bilal al Hamal (Said Taghmaoui), a poor man who works as a public entertainer and acrobat, with whom she soon falls in love. Life seems reasonably stable but very depressing and uncomfortable, and Julia's various attempts to find work are all flawed, forcing her to move and so leave Bilal and his newly found occupation behind. She attempts to become a Sufi in a Muslim monastery. However, upon her return she discovers that her eldest daughter has gone missing from the apparently reliable company of Santoni (Pierre Clementi) during her travels. She finds her in a convent school, later discovering that she is severely ill. Upon her recovery, the returned Bilal manages to sell a stolen item and therefore buy tickets for the family back to London in order for Bea to be treated properly.
The film is handled with masterful style, and is often a great improvement on the novel. Many scenes are cut shorter and sometimes deleted (as they should be with a film adaptation), the faster pace therefore rendering the plot more interesting. The visually clever and sometimes awe-inspiring touches that occur in the film throughout also add depth, as does the film's music, which effectively blends the traditional hippie atmosphere of the time with the country's hypnotic rural rhythms. What's more, the performances are first-rate all round, especially the two young actresses Bella Riza and Carrie Mulan (the film's real stars), playing the two daughters aged 6 and 8, Riza arguably the weaker of the two, but in no way discredited. The star presence, Kate Winslet, complete with long hair, bracelets and the usual hippie gear, makes you wonder at the fact that this was almost instantly filmed after the box-office smash, "Titanic," the contrast (especially in appearance) from the previous film is just one of the aspects of this film that illustrates how good an actress she is. Said Taghmauoi plays Bilal, his appearance is a little briefer than the other three characters. His deliverance of lines may be a little weak at times but his character and its background allows us to let it pass. Good supporting roles also from the likes of Abigail Cruttenden and Pierre Clementi.
Some may complain of the film's occasionally tedious sentimentality, but this picture gives us a pleasant rest from the usual Hollywood film full of unnecessarily foul language, gratuitous sex and heavy gore. Simply enjoy a wonderful film of style that deserves more recognition.
Hideous Kinky (its mysterious title derived from the two girls' favourite words) is a semi-autobiographical story by Esther Freud, concerning her time in Morocco during the early seventies. Julia (Kate Winslet) and her two daughters Bea (Bella Riza) and Lucy (Carrie Mullan) have left London and Julia's husband (a character that is often talked of but intriguingly never seen) in order to move to Africa, living an unstable life in the north of Morocco. Soon Julia meets Bilal al Hamal (Said Taghmaoui), a poor man who works as a public entertainer and acrobat, with whom she soon falls in love. Life seems reasonably stable but very depressing and uncomfortable, and Julia's various attempts to find work are all flawed, forcing her to move and so leave Bilal and his newly found occupation behind. She attempts to become a Sufi in a Muslim monastery. However, upon her return she discovers that her eldest daughter has gone missing from the apparently reliable company of Santoni (Pierre Clementi) during her travels. She finds her in a convent school, later discovering that she is severely ill. Upon her recovery, the returned Bilal manages to sell a stolen item and therefore buy tickets for the family back to London in order for Bea to be treated properly.
The film is handled with masterful style, and is often a great improvement on the novel. Many scenes are cut shorter and sometimes deleted (as they should be with a film adaptation), the faster pace therefore rendering the plot more interesting. The visually clever and sometimes awe-inspiring touches that occur in the film throughout also add depth, as does the film's music, which effectively blends the traditional hippie atmosphere of the time with the country's hypnotic rural rhythms. What's more, the performances are first-rate all round, especially the two young actresses Bella Riza and Carrie Mulan (the film's real stars), playing the two daughters aged 6 and 8, Riza arguably the weaker of the two, but in no way discredited. The star presence, Kate Winslet, complete with long hair, bracelets and the usual hippie gear, makes you wonder at the fact that this was almost instantly filmed after the box-office smash, "Titanic," the contrast (especially in appearance) from the previous film is just one of the aspects of this film that illustrates how good an actress she is. Said Taghmauoi plays Bilal, his appearance is a little briefer than the other three characters. His deliverance of lines may be a little weak at times but his character and its background allows us to let it pass. Good supporting roles also from the likes of Abigail Cruttenden and Pierre Clementi.
Some may complain of the film's occasionally tedious sentimentality, but this picture gives us a pleasant rest from the usual Hollywood film full of unnecessarily foul language, gratuitous sex and heavy gore. Simply enjoy a wonderful film of style that deserves more recognition.