At first glance, Julia Leigh, creator of the controversial new film "Sleeping Beauty," seems quiet and unassuming, not the mastermind behind the intensely sexual thriller. But her film made a powerhouse debut at the Cannes Film Festival and has subsequently become one of this year's most talked about films.
Leigh began her artistic career as a novelist, writing the critically acclaimed novellas "The Hunter" and "Disquiet." Named Young Novelist of the Year in 2000 by the Sydney Morning Herald, Leigh knew her craft well. But the transition from book to film was not an easy one.
"The process [of writing a novel] is completely different [from writing a screenplay]," she said. "It's really impossible to compare [the two]. One of the main differences is that in prose, you have to give a lot of thought to the movement between time and space. Film is easy. It's just a new log line."
"Sleeping Beauty" highlights the exploration of movement through time and space. But while the film was inspired by the classic fairy tale, the two plots are worlds apart. The movie tells the story of a college student named Lucy, who forays into prostitution. She joins a brothel where she is drugged each night so she is unconscious during her encounters with clients.
"I read the Disney story, obviously," Leigh said. "But I also read the original fairy tale, which is quite brutal. I also read two novellas, one by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and another by Yasunari Kawabata, which both talk about older men who pay to sleep with young, drugged girls."
She added that she was also inspired by disturbing information about similar real-life situations that she discovered on the Internet.
While the film's content could be sordid, it purposely desensitizes the viewer with its frank and unflinching nature — exploring the psyche of Lucy's sexual experiences rather than glamorizing them.
"My goal was to try to create the right condition," she said. "Be uptight about small things. It was sort of a leap of faith."
This condition that she mentions almost hypnotizes the viewer, creating both numbness and a sense of hyperawareness by the end of the film.
"[It took] 10,000 decisions to create that effect: the pace, the look, the sound design." Leigh recalled. "Every breath was calibrated."
While the film's subject matter may not be universally appealing, "Sleeping Beauty" has received as much attention as Leigh put into it. Those minute details draw the audience into a whole new world, which was fascinating though far from reassuring.
"I like that the film has an effect on people," Leigh said with a chuckle. "I like to think that filmmaking is not a popularity contest, [and while] producers might disagree, I'm comfortable in the risk zone."
