Reviews

Altman is pure genius. I cannot think of a film that creates poetry from the sprawling conversations, languid mise-en-scene and chilling performances as well as this film.

While other films achieve brilliance with more didactic approaches (agnes varda's le bonheur) poetic strangeness (immamura's the eel) social satire (ang lee's the ice storm) or dream like frenzy (fellini's Casanova) this film achieves with wandering observations, unpointed scenes and internal conflicts that are both funny and dramatic.

His performance style is so uniquely wonderful.. and recent work such as Gosford Park confirms this...but I think he had his most idiosyncratic performance style happening here...and of course in "A wedding" and "Quintet".

There is also something camp about this film -- that conjures the recent work of Todd Haynes.

This film is a masterpiece.

It's form is so effortless that it's difficult not to feel like you're not watching a movie at all -- or at least -- in it's ultimate experience is more kin to cinema at it's purest.

One does not need to understand television to view this work -- or pop culture or magazines -- it is so heartfelt, detailed and organic with the celluloid acting as a cipher for ghosts to wander, lost and found.

One can not replicate this kind of experience by discussing it's genre..and certainly script doctors would have mild heart attacks trying to replicate its beauty and substantial finality as a work of great cinema.

an original vision..consistently followed through.

The humour is what sets this film apart (as well as lush and particular style of framing/lighting) that makes the film world of "Sweetie" feel idiosyncratic, nightmarish and lurid.

Whether or not it's your cup of tea, (and a pastel pink cup full of sacharine and strichnine is not everybody's cup of tea) it has to be applauded on a critical level.

Along with contemporary Australian classics "The Night The Prowler" "Strictly Ballroom" "Starstruck" and "The Cars that Ate Paris" this film was the innovator of what later became a formula for Australian funding models vis a vis...quirky.

But the early work was wonderfully dark and had a knowing sense of camp -- where later work failed.

OK..so it's not Wong karwai or bertolucci...but it's heart is not bad.

it's well shot, simply designed and the choices are designed for the maximum emotional impact. It reminds me of Spielberg or Ron Howard's take on Asian cinema....the little girl is great, but her performance too monitored for emotional impact in my opinion. In some ways the politics of the film was less smug and pretentious than the Cannes competition film "Closer" that was also in the same screening.

the lighting is a bit too over the top at times -- as is the grand scale of the shots -- but nevertheless it's consistently handled and in my opinion, neither cloying or completely distasteful.

whoever gave the scathing review...I think you are being slightly unfair. The politics of the film is not bad...especially when compared with some other recent Australian shorts such as "Heartworm" and that one with the guy from Secret Life of Us "house of cards? names" that was playing at Melbourne film festival shorts.

i think is a strange movie but worth seeing from a woman's perspective. It is strange to me that a man can understand this sort of thing. Actually, some of this movie made me annoyed (and so short) but in the end of session of short films I think this was the most original. The lady does not look Australian to me but maybe that is the point but the movie does feel very quirky and there is many sexual double jokes to make you laugh. It is also artificial like Fassbinder perhaps so maybe I am too literal in my responses. I wonder if there are Australian feature films with same style or feeling. I have seen "Muriel's Wedding" but that is more kitsch than this.

This is a simple tale but it feels very manipulative. It lacks pathos for it does not leave a room for imagination or a personal thought or time for reflection.

The animation is well done but I feel like it is too presentational. I would have preferred more images from behind, more space in the background and maybe then this would not feel so kitsch to me.

But for a Hollywood style film it works OK but it is very derivative of Aardman films and this is bothering to me. Perhaps a longer film will test if this maker can do without the voice-over.

I think the voice over is too glib.