In Sleeping Beauty, the fairy tale, the prince kisses the sleeping princess and she wakes up.  In Sleeping Beauty, the 2011 film by Australian screenwriter Julia Leigh, the princess (Emily Browning) is kissed by various and far less princely men without waking up at all; not such a charming tale but a much more interesting film premise.

This controversial “unsettling erotic fable” about Lucy, a university student who takes a job as a ‘sleeping beauty’ (watch the trailer to fill in the job description), is garnering great praise for its cinematic loveliness and not so much for its story, which is dividing audiences across the world.

This makes sense when you take into account that Sleeping Beauty is ‘presented by’ Jane Campion, who was Leigh’s mentor on the film.  Going by the trailer alone its easy to see the aesthetic similarities between Sleeping Beauty, The Piano and In the Cut, particularly in the unashamed way the camera looks upon the female form, though it may do so, here, a little more coldly.

Apparently Mia Waikowska was set to play Lucy, but dropped out to make Jane Eyre, which is good, as the main draw for me with this film is Emily Browning.  She’s the reason I watched Lemony Snicket three times, and why I didn’t turn off Sucker Punch after the second incredibly long and extremely pointless fantasy fight sequence.  Yes, I could watch her sleep…  Cue sinister music…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkQ8_6SvO2I

Lucy, a young university student, takes a job as a Sleeping Beauty to fund her studies. She goes to sleep. She wakes up. And it’s as if those hours never existed…

Directed by Julia Leigh, the film stars Australian actors Emily Browning, Rachael Blake (Lantana), Ewen Leslie (Jewboy), and Peter Carroll (Waking Ned).

To find out if Sleeping Beauty is playing at a festival centre near you, head to the NZIFF site.

Does this look like a film you might like to see?  If a movie is controversial does that make you want to see it even more?  Do you think Lucy might snore in her sleep?