Personally I'm very fond of this movie ... I was surprised at how many hostile comments I found in the User Comments and on this board, but to be honest I was surprised to find any comments at all.
One aspect of this movie which I think is missed, and which for the sake of the honesty of the story isn't very well emphasized in the movie, is the sufis which she is seeking out.
People commenting on this movie seem perplexed overall ... what is it about? Why is she in Morocco? But there is a religious element, a mystical element, underlying it all which seems not to be mentioned.
Indeed if the movie had been made with Julia seeking out Lourdes or something, that aspect would have been clearer to people.
But to present that aspect honestly, the movie-makers avoided any dramatic presentation of the miraculous or saintly. To me it was clear enough because I'm very familiar with the sufis, but I think to others it has been lost completely.
There are a several layers in this movie, but I think the sufis were meant to be the most important one, so it's unfortunate that it seems to be the least noticed.
At another layer the movie is a romance, and the romance is between Julia and Morocco itself. This too seems to have been largely lost on the comments I have seen here. I think if you don't fall in love with the mystery, the ancientness, and the arabic complexity of Morocco a lot of what this movie tries to do must be lost. Bilal is a personification of that.
And at another level there is the mix between the necessities of grown-up life and the magical irrationality of childhood. The title incantation, "Hideous Kinky", expresses this as does most of what the two little girls do throughout. All through the movie there is a driving force which is really just a kind of giddy irrationality, an enchantment. I think it really needed somebody like Kate Winslet to keep that going, somebody with a really enchanting charisma. The movie is about a kind of descent into madness, but rather than pitying the protagonist you are supposed to envy her her madness.
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galvez1213
17 years ago
I really see this movie through the eyes of Bea. In the later part of the movie, Bea is found in a missionary's home for boys. The women obviously was in love with her and probably would have kept her as a daughter. Hippy, Julia looking the most "hideous" and behaving like a mad women, finds Bea. The child looks like she had wagered what her life could be with this woman, while all the time resenting her mother for leaving her behind in her slightly unconventional way of living. In the end Bea is like most children, willing to put up with the "Hideous Kinky", ways parents live, all the while never once really wanting to be any where away from their family, just wishing for change. From what I have seen in this world, I believe children like Bea, will live in the worst conditions rather than be tortured in to leaving behind a family that showed them love.
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katydid579
16 years ago
After seeing this wonderfully unexpected film, I must again revisit the notion that there are two types of people in this world. First, there are those who maintain that the world is basically evil or "wrong". Then, there are those who are confident that our life on this earth can be much better if we commit to peace and the seeking of truth. Julia is on this path. Her daughter, Bea, is of the former belief and will not be happy until her life is directed toward the pessimism of a "normal" and utterly predictable life. Thank goodness Julia and Lucy know how to spread their wings and FLY!!!!
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Mermaid77
16 years ago
Great post, tyre....I used to see things from Julia's point of view, but now that I am a mom and I'm older, I see it from the children's perspective....it's funny how things change and how life makes us change perspective via our experiences...I own this film and had not watched it until tonight (I have it on VHS)since about 8 or 9 years ago--when I was in my early twenties and I was all for Julia's spiritual quest. Now I see her as frightened, confused, selfish and self-indulgent and not putting her children as the priority. How could you leave your children with complete strangers--I don't care if the one guy knew my estranged husband or not. Another disturbing thing that I had never caught before was the fact that the guy who supposedly knew her husband and invited them to stay with him invited them to stay at someone else's house--a LOT of audacity and none of the strangers/adults were concerned with Bea. I would never leave my child in the hands of strangers which is ultimately what the Sufi Sheik told her. When you go on a personal spiritual quest and you have children, any guru will tell you that you must secure your family before leaving them.
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RaineBender
16 years ago
I could identify most with Lucy. She kidn of went with it and had a wonderful time, like I would. I would never have done it myself I think, but if I'd been in that situation I would have loved it.
I couldn't disagree more with Bea, her mother takes her to this wondeful and beautidul country and all she wants is to go back home and be normal. That's not the right attitude if you want to have any kind of excitement in life.
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Mermaid77
15 years ago
LOL--do you have children? I would doubt it from your response...
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maveltre-566-900040
10 years ago
Some of you seem to be assuming that life for children in England is always rosy. Besides, isn't part of the problem that their father refused to honor his responsibility in providing for the kids? Believe me, it wouldn't take much for them to have been sustained quite well in Marrakesh. If her mother had been less hindered, she may have been able to establish a more routine life. Children do live and grow in many regions, even ones foreign to them. With more means, they would have had a safer, more comfortable trip to Algeria and Mom would probably have learned the same lesson she did without as much turmoil.
That said, it is true that Bea did feel confused and resentful, but she may have felt very similarly at home.
All alternatives are simply figments of our imaginations anyway.
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vonziggy
9 years ago
Yes and most people seem to forget that when they were leaving Bea wanted to make sure when they were speaking with Eva that she was going to be able to come back to Marrakesh, that was her wish!
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