MovieChat Forums > Sleeping Beauty (2011) Discussion > The Dinner Party

The Dinner Party

posted 8 years ago by Chara_Angel
4 replies | jump to latest

Probably the most memorable, striking, and creepy parts of the whole movie, for me.

It plays out like a dream or a nightmare. The pictures behind the men in the brandy room are moving- I think they are actual women standing there. And there's just women crouched naked on the floor like terrible living sculptures.

I was slightly amused to see that there was one older woman in the party of men, and was wondering what the night must have been like for her. It seemed like business as usual for everyone there.

Little girls shouldn't look for four leaf clovers!

[–] masaali-89 8 years ago

Finally someone other than me has noticed the moving women in what seems to be pictures!!! I posted a similar message a few months ago.
They were very disturbing indeed!!

[–] mikeflw1 7 years ago

While this is not directly related to your comment about 'pictures' composed of actual women being "very disturbing", other time eras, countries, and cultures have different views and 'traditions'.

First example:
The movie SUSHI GIRL is not what many people (USA) might expect, (like a waitress in a sushi restaurant?).
The title comes from having a nude woman essentially being a 'serving tray' for sushi. (Would that ever pass the USA Health Department inspections of restaurants?). I have heard about it from people who went to upscale restaurants in Japan. Instead of the sushi being served cold, it is at body temperature that way...
In one of the SEX IN THE CITY series movies, one of the four main actresses prepared a special treat for her friend/date, when she prepared a sushi meal for him. The special treat part was when she placed the sushi all over her own body, just before he was supposed to arrive. Spoiler: Not only was he late, he actually never did arrive, (as I remember the movie), and she eventually began eating the sushi, then finally went to bed after waiting several hours.

Second example:
Around the era of the "Roaring Twenties" in the USA, burlesque shows and some edgy stage shows also used partially nude women as sculptures.

[–] bob998 8 years ago

The imagery is not new. Allen Jones was doing sculptures back in the 60's of naked women as chairs, tables and hatstands. See also Helmut Newton.

[–] mikeflw1 7 years ago

Back in the early days of Burlesque, and even some stage shows, topless women were allowed to be on stage, as long as they remained completely motionless, and stayed perfectly still. That was to accommodate the various laws and ordinances regarding lewd behavior and 'public nudity'. If any of them did move, the show would immediately be closed, and the responsible parties would be taken away to jail, and the audiences removed...
So, they were allowed to be "human sculptures". And so, the idea of human sculptures and paintings is nothing new, or, what's old is new again.

So, I wonder if the use of human paintings and sculptures is a nod to that time period?
(I have not seen this movie yet, but I came here to IMDB to read some reviews and comments before I decided whether I would or not. Campion's work has something of an acquired taste to it, at least IMHO in her other projects I have already seen. From the IMDB comments I have read, that seems to be true here as well.)