Sneak Preview: SLEEPING BEAUTY (Julia Leigh, 2011)
Event Date: December 1, 2011 - 7:30pm
Location: The James Bridges Theater, Melnitz Hall 1409, UCLA
From the Director of Melnitz Movies, Samuel B. Prime:
Formally reminiscent of Michael Haneke's meticulously composed CACHÉ (2005) and with a narrative mirroring the most breathtaking salacious scenes in Stanley Kubrick's EYES WIDE SHUT (1999), Australian novelist-turned-filmmaker Julia Leigh's feature debut is a masterful and terrifying work. New on the world cinema scene, Leigh's voice is distinctive in ways that make us hungry for what's next. We hope that you, like us, enjoy this sneak preview of her first feature film, SLEEPING BEAUTY, presented courtesy of IFC Films.
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Jane Campion presents SLEEPING BEAUTY, the bold and provocative directorial debut of Julia Leigh, featuring a phenomenal breakthrough performance by Emily Browning as Lucy. Death-haunted, quietly reckless, Lucy is a young university student who takes a job as a Sleeping Beauty. In the Sleeping Beauty Chamber old men seek an erotic experience that requires Lucy’s absolute submission. This unsettling task starts to bleed into Lucy’s daily life and she develops an increasing need to know what happens to her when she is asleep.
Co-Presented by the Center for the Study of Women
Official Selection, 2011 Cannes Film Festival
Official Selection, 2011 Toronto International Film Festival
Official Selection, Chicago International Film Festival
Official Selection, Vancouver International Film Festival
Official Selection, Helsinki International Film Festival
Official Selection, Stockholm International Film Festival
“Gorgeous, opaque and disturbing in roughly equal portions…A riveting experience all the way through.” –Andrew O’Heir, Salon
“[An] accomplished feature debut…A story of sex and death that evokes the work of the French author Georges Bataille.” –Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
“Browning...proves that she's a fearless and distinctive young actress whose rigorously passive performance imbues her character with immense depth and mystery.” –David Jenkins, Time Out London
“This is a brave, thoughtful, highly accomplished debut that rewards as much as it challenges.” –Total Film
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Julia Leigh
STARRING: Emily Browning, Rachael Blake, Ewen Leslie, Peter Carroll, Chris Haywood, Michael Dorman, Mirrah Foulkes, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Joel Tobeck, Henry Nixon
IFC Films
Blu-Ray, 104 min.
Sleeping Beauty from Pollen Digital on Vimeo.
