| Beautiful | |
|---|---|
Original poster |
|
| Directed by | Dean O'Flaherty |
| Produced by | Matt Hearn Elene Pepper Kent Smith Kate Butler |
| Written by | Dean O'Flaherty |
| Starring | Deborra-Lee Furness Peta Wilson Sebastian Gregory Tahyna Tozzi Erik Thomson |
| Music by | Kym Green Bryce Jacobs |
| Cinematography | Kent Smith |
| Editing by | Marty Pepper Dale Roberts |
| Distributed by | Jump Street Films (Australia) |
| Release date(s) | 5 March 2009 |
| Running time | 97 minutes |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Budget | A$1,500,000 |
| Box office | A$56,000 |
Beautiful is a 2009 Australian independent film, written and directed by Dean O'Flaherty, which was released by Adelaide-based Kojo Pictures on 5 March 2009. The film marked the feature filmmaking debut of both O'Flaherty and Kojo Pictures.[1] The South Australian Film Corporation provided approximately 10 per cent of the $1.5m budget, while the rest came from private investors.[2]
Beautiful was the first film in Australia to receive the new (at the time) 40% Producers Rebate from the Federal Government.[3] The film received a poor response, taking only $56,000 at the Australian box office in its short cinema release.[4]
It was invited to screen at the 12th Shanghai International Film Festival, in June 2010, and later sold "to France and all French-speaking European territories ... Japan ... Poland, Middle East, Russia, Mexico and HBO Eastern Europe."[5]
Contents |
Buried within the beautiful suburb of Sunshine Hills is a series of secrets and mysteries, most involving the disappearance of young women. Local teenager, Daniel Hobbs, a lonely outsider, is drawn into a plot by Suzy Thomson, a seventeen year old neighbor, to uncover the truth behind the missing girls. This mostly involves sneaking into the lives of the occupants of number 46. What he finds is the shocking truth about his own background. Or is it?
Beautiful divided critics in Australia.
While praising the "strong visuals" and "strong soundtrack", Fiona Williams of SBS Films said Beautiful was "another disappointing footnote in a submission for better script development in Australian filmmaking. It’s a good idea that’s been undercooked and overdone."[6]
Jim Schembri of The Age panned the film as a "dreadfully limp thriller". He diagnosed the problem as "the age-old one that bedevils too many Australian films - the movie cannot decide what type of movie it wants to be."[7]
Thomas Caldwell of Cinema Autopsy described the film as "derivative", while mentioning Blue Velvet, American Beauty, Happiness and Donnie Darko. He also took issue with its "horribly written dialogue".[8]
Annette Baille of Filmink Magazine praised the film for being "a truly transportive cinema experience - beautifully photographed, cleverly written and performed with precision - the only thing more intriguing than Beautiful's plot is what its gifted writer/Director will do next."[9]
David Griffiths of Mediaresearch.com said: "Beautiful is a stunning film that should silence the critics who are ringing the death bell for the Australian film industry".[10]
Beautiful grossed $56,101 at the box office in Australia.[11]
The iconic lawn chair scene, pictured above, is a homage to Stanley Kubrick's Lolita. According to footage in the DVD extras, the scene was shot at a house near the corner of Greenwood Grove and Meadowbank Rise (), Urrbrae, South Australia.