Beautiful Kate Reviews
EightThirty .
Super Reviewer
May 23, 2010
An excellent drama that stirred me the wrong way... I'm puzzled, and to think that this is suppose to disgust me didn't, well, in the end it didn't. Morally it's insane yet innocently it seems harmless. This would of got just the 3 stars but I pushed in a half more for actually puzzling my view of this situation. I know what's right from wrong and yet I felt sorry for the true enemies or rather, the guilty ones.
I did not expect to be moved like that and feel something for this story but I was quite stunned in the end. I was actually not liking what was going on and then a sudden impact in the story started to sink in and now I was sad... I should be glad at what happened but I actually felt sorry for everybody even though they were all guilty for something.
A great Australian flick that builds up gradually. On the drama scale its a winner and for me, the story still lingered in my thoughts long after I saw the movie. Another film that I was 'Not Interested' in that I enjoyed surprisingly. Thanks to all those who kept recommending it till I finally said... Oh, alright then!
03/02/2011 (ONLINE)
An excellent drama that stirred me the wrong way... I'm puzzled, and to think that this is suppose to disgust me didn't, well, in the end it didn't. Morally it's insane yet innocently it seems harmless. This would of got just the 3 stars but I pushed in a half more for actually puzzling my view of this situation. I know what's right from wrong and yet I felt sorry for the true enemies or rather, the guilty ones.
I did not expect to be moved like that and feel something for this story but I was quite stunned in the end. I was actually not liking what was going on and then a sudden impact in the story started to sink in and now I was sad... I should be glad at what happened but I actually felt sorry for everybody even though they were all guilty for something.
A great Australian flick that builds up gradually. On the drama scale its a winner and for me, the story still lingered in my thoughts long after I saw the movie. Another film that I was 'Not Interested' in that I enjoyed surprisingly. Thanks to all those who kept recommending it till I finally said... Oh, alright then!
Nicki M
Super Reviewer
May 22, 2010
Wow, this was a dark movie. Definitely not for all tastes, and a little slow to get moving, but once the family secrets started to come out, just enthralling. I think this movie did a good job as even though it deals with something pretty much inexcusable, it does make you pause slightly and wonder who the real victim was, or if they were all victims. Acting is superb as well. Was particularly impressed with Sophie Lowe who plays Kate in flashbacks.
deano
Super Reviewer
January 12, 2010
When Bruce (Bryan Brown) and Ned (Ben Mendelsohn) go head-to-head, you're not just seeing two of Australia's best actors give their all, but a father and son unbotting a lifetime's worth of resentment and explosive rage. The supports are also flawless. As Sally, the youngest Kendall, Rachel Griffiths gives a grounded performance, while Maeve Dermody is excellent as Ned's sulky young fiancee, and Sophie Lowe proves that she's a talent to watch. With muscular direction from Ward (Brown's real-life wife), who adapted the screenplay from Newton Thornburg's American-set novel - this decidedly anti-popcorn movie does ultimately offer redemption and hope. It's an intense, disquieting experience - but a deeply rewarding one.
This Aussie drama of Rachel Ward's debut directional motion picture is interesting about a family so dysfunctional that you need another word for it.
When Bruce (Bryan Brown) and Ned (Ben Mendelsohn) go head-to-head, you're not just seeing two of Australia's best actors give their all, but a father and son unbotting a lifetime's worth of resentment and explosive rage. The supports are also flawless. As Sally, the youngest Kendall, Rachel Griffiths gives a grounded performance, while Maeve Dermody is excellent as Ned's sulky young fiancee, and Sophie Lowe proves that she's a talent to watch. With muscular direction from Ward (Brown's real-life wife), who adapted the screenplay from Newton Thornburg's American-set novel - this decidedly anti-popcorn movie does ultimately offer redemption and hope. It's an intense, disquieting experience - but a deeply rewarding one.
Harlequin68
Super Reviewer
September 9, 2011
"Beautiful Kate" is a darkly engaging movie that takes its time moving through the landscape of memories with the help of natural performances and cinematography. Writer/director Rachel Ward handles the provocative material with sensitivity, allowing the viewer to understand what happened and possibly why but not pass judgment. Ned being a writer actually works here, as it is the kind of profession that Bruce would frown upon, thinking that the only kind of job for a man is where he works with his hands. And it would be so very easy to think of Bruce as a national champion rat bastard but that single shot of all four children around the dinner table hits home how hard it probably was to raise four children all alone after his wife's death.
In "Beautiful Kate," Ned(Ben Mendelsohn) travels to the outback to visit his long-estranged father Bruce(Bryan Brown) with his much younger girlfriend, Toni(Maeve Dermody), a waitress with dreams of acting, in tow. Bruce has conjunctive heart failure with only a short time to live and is cared for by his youngest daughter Sally(Rachel Griffiths) who also volunteers for the local aboriginal community. She has to leave for a few days, giving Ned more time to spend with his father and to think about his twin sister Kate(Sophie Lowe).
"Beautiful Kate" is a darkly engaging movie that takes its time moving through the landscape of memories with the help of natural performances and cinematography. Writer/director Rachel Ward handles the provocative material with sensitivity, allowing the viewer to understand what happened and possibly why but not pass judgment. Ned being a writer actually works here, as it is the kind of profession that Bruce would frown upon, thinking that the only kind of job for a man is where he works with his hands. And it would be so very easy to think of Bruce as a national champion rat bastard but that single shot of all four children around the dinner table hits home how hard it probably was to raise four children all alone after his wife's death.
PantaOz
Super Reviewer
September 2, 2009
Very brave subject of incest in the Australian bush... Enjoy every minute of it!
Robert F
Super Reviewer
March 27, 2010
Beautiful Kate is nicely shot, but the film fails to use the confronting material to go anywhere interesting.
June 30, 2012
Australienii se pricep la drama, chiar daca asa e nitel melodramatia pe ici pe colo
June 17, 2011
People may hear of the subject matter of this movie and use it as an excuse to not give it a fair chance. But I guarantee, if you go into this movie with an open mind, it will captivate and thrill you more so than you could have expected.
February 19, 2012
This film deals with some taboo subjects in a surprisingly gentle way. Even if some scenes are profoundly uncomfortable to watch, the film's narrative makes sense out of what shouldn't make sense. It's easy to see that Kate's pain and loneliness at losing her mother drives her reckless behavior. The mystery of a decades-old family drama is slowly revealed throughout the film, with a hopeful resolution and redemption in sight. I really liked Mendelsohn's performance and Rachel Ward's direction.
Mini B.
February 4, 2012
Excellent movie. Dark but well written ad executed.
January 26, 2012
Shit movie, how does this get 83% on this website? Its starts about an age ol story of a son going back to try and deal with his dying father who was emotionally abusive to him and his siblings, and suddenly a sub-plot about incestual siblings is thrown in. Again, shit movie. Why are Australian movies either comedies or really dark movies. Do yourself a favour and dont watch this movie
December 31, 2011
Although incest is a fact of life which I find difficult to watch in theater or film, this movie handles it superbly. It, incest, is central to the story, and the radiating effects of it reverberate throughout the family. The back-and-forth telling of the story is most effective, the acting superb. Bryan Brown is tops as the crusty, sick old patriarch, and Rachel Griffiths and Sophie Lowe are standouts.
October 18, 2011
yeah incest is a great theme in a movie i wonder why so many other directors omit this from their films. was grossed out by this movie, not a good one to watch in bed with your boyfriend you will definitely be put off sex
Harlequin68
Super Reviewer
September 9, 2011
"Beautiful Kate" is a darkly engaging movie that takes its time moving through the landscape of memories with the help of natural performances and cinematography. Writer/director Rachel Ward handles the provocative material with sensitivity, allowing the viewer to understand what happened and possibly why but not pass judgment. Ned being a writer actually works here, as it is the kind of profession that Bruce would frown upon, thinking that the only kind of job for a man is where he works with his hands. And it would be so very easy to think of Bruce as a national champion rat bastard but that single shot of all four children around the dinner table hits home how hard it probably was to raise four children all alone after his wife's death.
In "Beautiful Kate," Ned(Ben Mendelsohn) travels to the outback to visit his long-estranged father Bruce(Bryan Brown) with his much younger girlfriend, Toni(Maeve Dermody), a waitress with dreams of acting, in tow. Bruce has conjunctive heart failure with only a short time to live and is cared for by his youngest daughter Sally(Rachel Griffiths) who also volunteers for the local aboriginal community. She has to leave for a few days, giving Ned more time to spend with his father and to think about his twin sister Kate(Sophie Lowe).
"Beautiful Kate" is a darkly engaging movie that takes its time moving through the landscape of memories with the help of natural performances and cinematography. Writer/director Rachel Ward handles the provocative material with sensitivity, allowing the viewer to understand what happened and possibly why but not pass judgment. Ned being a writer actually works here, as it is the kind of profession that Bruce would frown upon, thinking that the only kind of job for a man is where he works with his hands. And it would be so very easy to think of Bruce as a national champion rat bastard but that single shot of all four children around the dinner table hits home how hard it probably was to raise four children all alone after his wife's death.
July 10, 2011
Set on a rural Australian farm, a family needs to deal with the tragedies of the past.
andres74varela
March 5, 2011
Fuerte pelicula australiana que cuenta la historia de una familia de cuatro hermanos, dos hombres y dos mujeres, y la relacion entre ellos y su despota padre. Drama intenso sobre el amor prohibido y la emociones desenfrenadas. Realmente oscura, muy oscura pero muy bien llevada.
January 12, 2011
A bold and daring movie. Well acted with beautiful scenery. Love the way they approached introducing the past in pace with the present.
January 3, 2011
Not comfortable viewing, but worth it for the catharsis. This one is really Chiron-Pluto.
