Jane Campion is a cinematic force. Her movies have this quiet complexity behind them that makes them endlessly watchable and so enthralling.

I love how she handles actors, and she always manages to get the best performances out of people. She has the uncanny ability to dip into human psychology and see what comes out on the other side.

Ranking a brilliant artist’s work is always a delightful but subjective process.

Today, I wanted to go through Campion’s body of work and talk about what makes these movies so special. The wild thing is, she’s really only made good movies, so it’s kind of impossible to rank them, but I will do my best.

Let’s dive in.

7. Holy Smoke! (1999)

Maybe the perfect summation of all the things we’d come to know Campion for. It’s a movie with powerful performances, great cinematography, and it unpacks humanity.

Kate Winslet stars as a young woman who falls under the spell of a guru in India. Her family then hires an American cult deprogrammer (Harvey Keitel) to rescue her.

It’s a wild, often uncomfortable ride exploring themes of spirituality and sexuality. It’s an audacious unpacking of religion and personal liberation.

6. In the Cut (2003)

I really like this movie. It’s a gritty and realistic neo-noir that takes on murder and sex in very explicit ways.

Meg Ryan sheds her romantic comedy persona to play a New York English teacher who becomes entangled with a detective (Mark Ruffalo) while investigating a murder.

The film takes on a traditionally masculine genre and deconstructs it for viewers. It can be a little unsettling and dark, but I think it has a timeless quality as well.

5. Sweetie (1989)

Campion’s debut feature announced her arrival with a bang and got the whole world watching. Sweetie is a sort of dark comedy about a dysfunctional suburban family.

We follow a woman who has her life upended by the destructive behavior of her sister, Sweetie. It’s an intense movie that makes you cringe in the best ways.

I love how it unpacks sibling rivalry and highlights Campion’s visual flair and her approach to character.

4. Bright Star (2009)

Campion is so fearless when it comes to themes and story. This is a tragic romance about the love affair between 19th-century poet John Keats (Ben Whishaw) and his muse, Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish).

You know there can be no happy endings in this movie, and you still are desperate for one. The performances are, again, amazing, but I love how the whole theme is artistic passion and writing.

3. An Angel at My Table (1990)

An Angel at My Table chronicles the extraordinary life of New Zealand author Janet Frame. The movie covers decades and follows Frame from a poverty-stricken childhood through her misdiagnosis with schizophrenia and her eventual triumph as a writer.

The breadth is sprawling, but there are moments that stand out in each period that allow us to follow along and be engaged.

You can tell how much Campion cares about this person in how she makes the story accessible to everyone. It’s an inspirational movie.

2. The Power of the Dog (2021)

There was some time off in Campion’s career, but she came back with a bang and shook the whole world up.

The Power of the Dog is a taut, psychologically complex Western set in 1925 Montana. Benedict Cumberbatch delivers a career-defining performance as the menacing rancher Phil Burbank, whose life is upended by the arrival of his brother’s new wife (Kirsten Dunst) and her son (Kodi Smit-McPhee).

In case you forgot, Campion is the master of getting actors to deliver poignant and emotionally crushing acting. And this movie kept delivering layer after layer of complex characters.

This is a slow-burning masterpiece that explores toxic masculinity, repressed desire, and violence. That may be the trifecta of Campion’s career themes. The movie earned Campion the Best Director Oscar.

1. The Piano (1993)

Without a doubt, The Piano stands as Jane Campion’s most iconic and universally acclaimed work. And it is one of the greatest movies of all time.

This breathtaking historical drama tells the story of Ada McGrath (Holly Hunter), a mute Scottish woman sent with her young daughter (Anna Paquin) and her beloved piano to a remote part of New Zealand for an arranged marriage.

I don’t know how to sell you this movie. It’s art. It’s quiet. It’s slow. It has so much pain and anguish and so much depth and power. The actors are all incredible, and the imagery is top-notch.

The Piano not only won Campion the Palme d’Or at Cannes (the first woman to do so), and an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. She was nominated for Best Director but lost.

Summing It All Up 

Jane Campion is one of the greatest living directors and someone whose work is easy to celebrate and incredibly hard to rank.

I hope she continues to make movies and to find budgets in the increasingly hard-to-manage Hollywood landscape.

The movies she makes are vital, and I eagerly await what comes next.

Let me know what you think in the comments!