| Beautiful Kate | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Rachel Ward |
| Produced by | Bryan Brown Leah Churchill-Brown |
| Written by | Screenplay: Rachel Ward Novel: Newton Thornburg |
| Starring | Rachel Griffiths Bryan Brown Sophie Lowe Ben Mendelsohn |
| Music by | Tex Perkins Murray Paterson |
| Cinematography | Andrew Commis |
| Editing by | Veronika Jenet |
| Distributed by | Roadshow Entertainment |
| Release date(s) | 6 August 2009 (Australia) |
| Running time | 101 mins |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
Beautiful Kate is a 2009 Australian film directed by Rachel Ward and starring Rachel Griffiths, Bryan Brown, Sophie Lowe and Ben Mendelsohn. Rachel Ward adapted the script from a 1982 novel of the same name by Newton Thornburg; this was the first novel by Thornburg used for a movie since Cutter's Way (1981). The film was shot on location in the Flinders Ranges.
The film premiered in June 2009 at the Sydney Film Festival and was released in limited release across Australia on 6 August 2009.[1]
Contents |
A writer, Ned Kendall (Mendelsohn), is asked to return to the remote and isolated family home by his sister Sally (Griffiths), to say goodbye to his father, Bruce (Brown), who is dying. Ned also brings his 21 year old aspiring actress fiancee, Toni (Dermody) who has trouble getting used to the isolation and harshness of rural Australia.
While back home, Ned (O'Donnell) starts having memories of his childhood, many involving his beautiful twin sister Kate (Lowe) and his older brother Cliff (McFarlane). These memories awaken long-buried secrets from the family's past.
After a drunken night out with friends, Ned goes for a swim in the family dam. He is joined by Kate, who seduces and subsequently has sex with him on the banks of the dam. Ned shows immediate remorse while Kate remains unperturbed.
After Ned's refusal to have further sexual relations with Kate, Kate instigates a fight between Cliff and Ned by suggesting that Ned made unwanted advances towards her. As punishment, Bruce makes Ned accompany Kate to the Christmas dance. During the dance, Ned leaves Kate, who is left to go home with Cliff. Ned leaves separately and on his way home he finds his sister's dead body in Cliff's crashed car. Cliff later hangs himself.
Back in the present tense, Toni discovers Ned's affair with his sister and leaves him. Eventually however Ned makes peace with Sally, who reveals that she knew of Ned and Kate's secret. She also reveals that the car's clock stopped on impact of the crash and no one could figure out what took Kate and Cliff so long to get home from the Christmas dance. Sally speculates that Kate also had sexual relations with Cliff, who then involves in a crash in which Kate dies and later kills himself. This was not because of the guilt on his part in Kate's death; rather because he couldn't live knowing he had committed incest.
Ned then makes amends with Bruce and says that he is sorry for blaming him over Cliff's suicide. He doesn't tell Bruce the truth about Kate and lets him die still believing that Kate was everything he thought she was.
The film currently holds a 94% Fresh Rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[2] Beautiful Kate received four and a half stars from both Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton on At The Movies.[3] Until the debut of the Paul Hogan-starring Charlie & Boots in early September, Beautiful Kate held the title of the largest opening weekend for an Australian title for 2009 and has made over $1mil at the local box office.[4]
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