H231 Assignment 1: Betty Bright
SHINE
SCOTT HICKS, DIRECTOR
| Armin Mueller-Stahl | Peter Helfgott |
| Geoffrey Rush | David Helfgott (adult) |
| Noah Taylor | David Helfgott (adolescent) |
| Lynn Redgrave | Gillian Helfgott |
| Googie Withers | Katharine Susannah Prichard |
| Sonia Todd | Sylvia |
| Nicholas Bell | Ben Rosen |
| John Gielgud | Cecil Parkes |
| Chris Haywood | Sam |
| Alex Rafalowicz | David Helfgott (child) |
| Written by | Scott Hicks and Jan Sardi |
| Cinematography | Geoffrey Simpson |
| Music | David Hirschfelder |
| Production Design | Vicki Niehus |
| Costume Design | Louise Wakefield |
| Film Editing | Philippa Karmel |
| Produced by | Jane Scott |
| Produced by | Fine Line Features, Momentum Films |
| Sound Mix | Dolly Digital |
| Distributed by | Buena Vista Pictures UK |
| Directed by | Scott Hicks |
| Australian Release | 15 August 1996 |
| American Release | 17 November 1996 |
| UK Release | 3 January 1997 |
Because of the recent release of Shine, little has yet been published in hard copy about the film, and as this was principally an on-line exercise, research was in the main restricted to accessing the Internet, which is an excellent device to obtain data on film. Initially, the urls were obtained using the electronic database provided in the on-line Unit Information Guide for Australian Cinema H231. Subsequent access through the Internet was achieved simply by entering the search engines, and requesting a search for Shine under the ‘Movie’ category, both worldwide and Australia.
Given that the film was a huge worldwide success, there is an abundance of information, as one link leads into another, giving extensive detail about the film in the form of interviews, reviews, statistics. However, given that the overall response by critics was positive, the results produced can often appear repetitive, if not replicated.
Cannon, D. In: Movie Reviews UK, 1997 http://www.film.u-net.com/Movies/Reviews/Shine.html Cochrane, P. In: The Sydney Morning Herald. 8.2.97 http://www.smh.com.au/daily/content/shine Ebert, R. In Chicago Sun-Times, Nov.1996 http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/ebert_reviews Freeman, J. In The Sydney Morning Herald, 19.11.96 http://www.smh.com.au/daily/content/shine Freeman, J. In: The Sydney Morning Herald, 3.1.97 http://www.smh.com.au/daily/content/shine Greenwood, H. In The Sydney Morning Herald. 20.1.97 http://www.smh.com.au/daily/content/shine Guthmann, E. Chronicle Staff Critic, 25.5.96 http://www.sfgate.com/ Hay, D. In: The Sydney Morning Herald. 12.2.97 http://www.smh.com.au/daily/content/shine Hessey, Ruth. Ronin Films Homepage http://www.datatrax.com.au/roninfilms/html/prodinfo.htm Howe, Desson. In Washington Post, 25.12.1996 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/shine.htm Null, Christopher. In: The Austin Chronicle, 14.7.97 http://www.desert.net/filmvault/bionic.html Shulgasser, B.: In the Examiner Movie Critic, 25.12.96 http://www.sfgate.com/ Turner, B. In: The Sydney Morning Herald, 16.11.96 http://www.smh.com.au/daily/content/shine Williams, E. In: Back. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/film/archive/60817c.htm
| Fine Line Films Shine pages | http://www.flf.com/shine |
| David Helfgott Web Page | http://www.helfgott.aust.com/ |
| Noah Taylor Web Page | http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Lot/8254/index.html |
| Internet Movie Database | http://us.imdb.com/ |
| Shine Home Page: Ronin Films | http://www.datatrax.com.au/roninfilms/html/shine.htm |
| Geoffrey Rush | http://www.datatrax.com.au/roninfilms/html/g_r_prof.htm |
| http://www.smh.com.au/daily/content/shine/pages/shine1.html | |
| Armin Mueller-Stahl | http://www.datatrax.com.au/roninfilms/html/armin.htm |
Because of the recent release of Shine, there is little that has yet been published in hard copy about the film. However, there are over eighty reviews, interviews and essays to be found under the on-line category.
| Movie Review Query Engine at Telerama | http://www.cinema.pgh.pa.us/movie/reviews?shine |
| [83 reviews] Review at: The New York Times [registration required] Review by: Scott Renshaw <renshaw@inconnect.com> Review by: ReelViews (James Berardinelli) [4/4] Review at: Boxoffice Magazine Review at: Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times [4/4] Review by: Microsoft Cinemania Online (Sheila Benson) [3/4] Review at: Empire Magazine [UK] Review by: Film.com (Lucy Mohl) Review by: Film.com (Mary Brennan) Review by: Film.com (Tom Keogh) Review at: Washington Post Review at: The Reviews InfoMotel Review by: Nebbadoon Syndicate (Joan Ellis) Review by: The Virginian-Pilot (Mal Vincent) Review by: "Charlie Don't Surf" (James Kendrick) [3/4] Recensione breve di: Il film della settimana (Alessandro Bencivenni) [italiano] Review by: Mike D'Angelo <dangelo@panix.com> Critique ˆ: Club Culture [franais] Review at: Shreck's Cinema [3.5/4] Review by: XTRA Entertainment (NZ) Review by: Ekrano Magazine (Ann Gorman) Review by: Movie Reviews UK (Birmingham, UK) [4/5] Review at: TIME Magazine Review by: Alex Dubin <asd200@is5.nyu.edu> Review by: Chad Polenz <ChadPolenz@aol.com> [3.5/4] Review by: Jam! Movies (Bob Thompson) Review at: New Jersey Online Review at: The Australian Capsule review by: Movie HQ (Todd Wofford) Review at: Deseret News, Salt Lake City Review at: People Weekly Capsule review by: Film Scouts (Leslie Rigoulot) Capsule review by: Teen Movie Critic (Vivian Rose) Cr’tica por: Pel’culas de Estreno (Andrzej Rattinger) [castellano] Review at: USA TODAY [3/4] Review by: Christopher Null <null@filmcritic.com> [4/5] Review at: The Richmond Review Capsule review at: 99 Lives Review by: Knoxville News-Sentinel (Betsy Pickle) [4/5] Review at: Anchorage Press Review at: Austin Chronicle Review at: HBO review Review at: Journal Now Review at: KSU E-Collegian Review at: Rough Cut Review at: San Francisco Chronicle Review at: San Francisco Chronicle Review at: San Francisco Chronicle Review at: San Francisco Examiner Review at: eye WEEKLY Review by: Urban Cinefile (Australia) Review at: Christian Spotlight on the Movies [2.5/5, 4/5] Review by: Movie Hell (Michael J. Legeros) [B-] Review at: Respect, Teen Critic Review by: Cinemaven Online (Doug Thomas) [3.5/4] Review by: David Sidwell <dsidwell@connexus.apana.org.au> Review by: Ben Hoffman <bhoffman@ix.netcom.com> [4/4] Review by: Shane R. Burridge <S687070@gcstudent.ins.gu.edu.au> Review by: Steve Rhodes <rhodes_steve@tandem.com> Review by: Walter Frith <WFrith1680@aol.com> Review by: Mark R. Leeper <mleeper@lucent.com> [+1 out of -4..+4] Review by: Reeling (Laura and Robin Clifford) Review by: John Schuurman <jschuu@ix.netcom.com> Review by: Michael Redman <mredman@bvoice.com> Review at: The Self-Made Critic Review by: CBS Up to the Minute (Dennis Cunningham) Review at: Movieolla: Reviews, Previews & Interviews [3/4] Review at: Movie Magazine International Evaluation at: Screen It! Entertainment Reviews for Parents Review by: Detroit News (Susan Stark) [3/4] Essay at: Voyager in Depth Review by: Edwin Jahiel <ejahiel@prairienet.org> Review at: PopcornQ Critique ˆ: Cinopsis [+2 de -3..+4] [franais] Review by: Cinemax (Jim Byerly) Review by: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (Jack Garner) [10/10] Review at: Mr. Cranky Rates the Movies [-1] Recensione di: Tempi Moderni (Alfonso Iuliano) [2/4] [italiano] Capsule review at: E! Online Essay by: Addicted to Noise (Jennie Yabroff) Review by: Tim Voon <stirling@netlink.com.au> Dvd review at: Cinema Laser Review by: Syracuse New Times (Bill DeLapp) |
| Internet Movie Database | http://us.imdb.com/Title?0117631 |
| Valenti, Tomas
Fernandez. In: Im‡genes (Spain). March 1997. p. 119. Westbrook, Caroline. In: Empire (UK). February 1997. p. 31. Klifa, Thierry. In: Studio (France). April 1997. p. 12. Diasteme. In: Premire (France). May 1997. p. 25. Antunes, Joao. In: Diario de Noticias, Programas (Portugal). 14.03.1997. Lopes, Joao. In: Expresso, Cartaz (Portugal). 15.03.1997. De Barros, Eurico. In: Diario de Noticias (Portugal). 16.03.1997. Weiss, Thomas. In: cinema. (Hamburg). 27.02.1997. Francke, Lizzie. In: Sight and Sound (UK). 1997. Vol 7. Iss 1. p. 44 Brett, Anwar. In: Film Review (UK). February 1997. p. 24. Ramos, Jorge Leitao. In: Expresso, Cartaz (Portugal). 08.02.1997. |
Enker, Debi. 1994, ‘Australia and Australians’, in Scott Murray (ed), Australian Cinema, 211-225.
O’Regan, Tom. 1996, Australian National Cinema.
Sardi, Jan. 1997, Shine, The Screenplay.
| Budget: Aus $3 million; US $5.5m | http://us.imdb.com/More?business+Shine |
| Takings Opening Weekend | $162,179 (USA) (24 November 1996)` (7 screens) |
| Gross ITL 11,172,696,000 (Italy) (11 May 1997) ITL 11,062,583,000 (Italy) (4 May 1997) ITL 10,610,969,000 (Italy) (20 April 1997) ITL 10,209,651,000 (Italy) (13 April 1997) ITL 9,783,532,000 (Italy) (6 April 1997) ITL 9,181,119,000 (Italy) (30 March 1997) ITL 8,863,360,000 (Italy) (27 March 1997) ITL 7,521,524,000 (Italy) (9 March 1997) ITL 6,875,717,000 (Italy) (2 March 1997) ITL 6,105,569,000 (Italy) (23 February 1997) ITL 5,512,172,000 (Italy) (16 February 1997) ITL 4,465,477,000 (Italy) (2 February 1997) ITL 166,447,000 (Italy) (15 December 1996) £6.488m (UK) (13 April 1997) £6.182m (UK) (6 April 1997) £5.983m (UK) (23 March 1997) £5.435m (UK) (10 March 1997) £5.234m (UK) (1 March 1997) £702,400 (UK) (19 January 1997) $35.811m (USA) (26 May 1997) $35.752m (USA) (18 May 1997) $35.674m (USA) (11 May 1997) $35.571m (USA) (4 May 1997) $35.446m (USA) (27 April 1997) $35.271m (USA) (20 April 1997) $35.045m (USA) (13 April 1997) $34.674m (USA) (6 April 1997) $33.691m (USA) (30 March 1997) $32.41m (USA) (23 March 1997) $30.823m (USA) (16 March 1997) $28.769m (USA) (9 March 1997) $26.066m (USA) (2 March 1997) $23.063m (USA) (23 February 1997) $20.024m (USA) (17 February 1997) $15.992m (USA) (9 February 1997) $14.536m (USA) (2 February 1997) $12.634m (USA) (26 January 1997) $8.283m (USA) (12 January 1997) $6.694m (USA) (5 January 1997) $3.542m (USA) (29 December 1996) $1.14m (USA) (22 December 1996) $943,978 (USA) (15 December 1996) $728,925 (USA) (8 December 1996) $484,628 (USA) (1 December 1996) $162,179 (USA) (24 November 1996) |
Admissions 488,874 (France) (27 May 1997) 226,961 (France) (22 April 1997) 195,497 (Germany) (2 April 1997) 67,618 (Portugal) (1 May 1997) 60,119 (Portugal) (24 April 1997) 46,209 (Portugal) (10 April 1997) 38,127 (Portugal) (3 April 1997) 27,168 (Portugal) (27 March 1997) 9,939 (Portugal) (20 March 1997) |
| Awards include | ||
| Australian Film Institute Awards 1996 | Best Film | |
| Best Director | ||
| Best Original Screenplay | ||
| Best Actor in Leading Role | ||
| Best Actor in Supporting Role | ||
| Best Cinematography | ||
| Best Editing | ||
| Best Original Musical Score | ||
| Best Sound | ||
| Golden Globe (five nominations) | Best Actor - Geoffrey Rush | |
| Academy Award Nominations (seven ) | Best Actor - Geoffrey Rush | |
| Australian Film Critics | Best Film | |
| Best Actor - Geoffrey Rush | ||
| Best Supporting Actor - Noah Taylor | ||
| British Academy of Film and Television Arts | Six Nominations | |
| Screen Actors guild | Best Actor in a Leading Role -Geoffrey Rush | |
| Directors Guild of American Nominations | Nominee: Scott Hicks, Best Director | |
| International Film Festivals including | Toronto: Critics Award for Best Picture | |
| Audience Award for Best Picture | ||
| Ft. Lauderdale: Best Film | ||
| People’s Choice Audience Award | ||
| Best Actor - Noah Taylor | ||
| Aspen: Audience Award for Best Picture | ||
| Hawaii: People’s Choice Award | ||
| New York Film Critics Circle | Best Actor - Geoffrey Rush | |
| Los Angeles Film Critics Association | Best Actor - Geoffrey Rush | |
| Boston Society of Film Critics | Best Actor - Geoffrey Rush | |
| Writers Guild of America Nominations | Best
Screenplay written for the screen: Jan Sardi (screenplay) and Scott Hicks (story) |
|
| National Board of Review | Best Picture | |
As a national cinema release Shine had to follow the circuit of the overseas film festival screens in order to sell itself. Shine’s debut was at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival, a prestigious showcase for independent film makers. This suggestion had been made by the film’s international distributor, Pandora Cinema, and the tumultuous response by the audience was overwhelming, more than justified the decision. The ensuing excitement guaranteed that Shine was a success even before its official release date. A bidding war ensued between distributors for the film rights and within days, sales had been secured for North America and the world. The film continued to collect rave reviews worldwide, and within a short period of time, accolades were soon followed by film awards.
Scott Hicks, the Director, described Shine as the story of ‘an unlikely hero who nonetheless achieves the one thing we all desire: he finds his own place in the world, and someone with whom to share life, love and music’. Shine spans three decades, and tells the true story of the life of a gifted classical pianist, David Helfgott. As a child growing up in Australia, David showed tremendous musical ability, an ability which is simultaneously exploited and impeded by a tyrannical, yet loving, father, a survivor of the Jewish holocaust. At the peak of his formal education at the Royal College of Music in London, David suffers a complete mental breakdown, returns to Australia and disappears, only to reappear twenty years later as a shambolic, incoherent, yet endearing adult, who goes on to regain the attention of an appreciative audience, and the hearts of all those he plays for.
As a result of the immense publicity and sympathy generated since the release of Shineü David Helfgott recommenced performing, and has gone on to achieve the fame he was cheated of in his youth. In his concerts, David performs the controversial Rachmaninoff’s Concerto #3, reported to have been the catalyst for his breakdown. (As a result of Shine, this piece has become the best selling classical release of 1997). David has since undertaken an extensive worldwide tour, and has achieved the notoriety normally reserved for rocks stars. Some critics have questioned the quality of his playing , and ask whether, given David’s obvious on-going mental condition, he should be allowed to play. However, given David’s background, the miracle isn’t to be found in his playing, the miracle of it is that he can play at all. Thanks to the success of Shine, David has gone on to be that rarest of individuals, a legend in his own lifetime.
Scott Hicks’ work prior to Shine had principally been producing award-winning documentaries for the television programme The Discovery Channel. His involvement in Shine was initially the result of an emotive and biographical newspaper article written by Samela Harris in 1986, about the return of pianist David Helfgott to the classical music arena after an extensive absence after a complete mental breakdown. Hicks read this article, and was sufficiently intrigued as to pay a visit to the concert hall to hear David’s performance for himself. Hicks was extremely moved by the recital, and immediately saw the potential in translating David’s story to film.
By 1989 Hicks was working on writing, producing and directing a children’s feature film, Sebastian and the Sparrow, work which brought him into contact with Jan Sardi, the screenwriter. Sardi had been involved in Australian screenwriting for many years, working on television productions, such as Embassy, Mission Impossible and The Man from Snowy River, and the film Ground Zero. During the filming of Sebastian and the Sparrow, Sardi became so embroiled in Hick’s passion for the story of Shine that he agreed to undertake the writing of the screenplay. Sardi said of his role, ‘When you are dealing with someone’s life, you tread that fine line between events that are known to have happened, and your own creative licence. And of course the film must be entertaining. It must begin and end within 100 minutes and take the audience on an emotional rollercoaster ride’. (Sardi, 1997: 144). In this respect, Sardi has more than fulfilled his role, in that every emotion is brought to bear in the screenplay.
Hicks had also know Jane Scott the producer for a number of years. She had been involved in British cinema since the late sixties, and first became involved in Australian cinema with The Adventures of Barry McKenzie. After emigrating to Australia in 1979, Scott was involved in a number of Australian films, including My Brilliant Career, Crocodile Dundee and Strictly Ballroom. It was Scott who recruited Ronin Films as the Australasian distributor for Shine. However, the need for a large budget meant that Jane had to turn overseas for a large proportion of the funding. France’s Pandora Cinema acquired the international and US rights to the film, and this in turn, ensured the participation of the Australian Film Finance Corporation, the South Australian Film Corporation, Film Victoria and the Australian Film Commission. With the financial package in place, the film-makers attention turned to the difficult issue of casting.
Hicks was determined that the adult David should be played by an Australian, and his immediate choice was Geoffrey Rush. Rush was an acclaimed stage actor, often playing characters whose minds bordered on the edges of sanity. Hicks’ choice was extremely speculative, given that Rush was virtually unknown outside of the Australian stage. However, the decision was sealed when Hicks saw Rush perform in Uncle Vanya in 1992: the foyer stills focussed on Rush’s hands, and his long elegant fingers. As David Helfgott expresses himself mostly through his hands, Hicks saw the structure of the actor’s fingers as an essential element in the film. Hicks’ determination to cast Rush was rewarded as Rush collected the lion’s share of accolades and awards for his performance in the film. However, although excellent as the mature David, the staccato delivery of his part occasionally becomes slightly irritating, reminiscent of Jodie Foster in the role of the unintelligible Nell.
For the role of the adolescent David, Hicks recruited Noah Taylor. Taylor had worked extensively not only in Australian theatre, but also in television and film. His work on film included The Year My Voice Broke, Flirting, and The Nostradamus Kid. Taylor was a remarkable choice for Shine given the dissimilarities between Taylor and Rush, but Hicks was drawn to Taylor’s fragility which the camera captures so often and so well. So to divert attention from appearances, Hicks concentrated on accentuating Helfgott’s eccentricity in the two actors; in the angle they held their cigarettes, the constant adjusting of the spectacles, or in the nervous flailing of the hands. Some criticism has been levelled not so much at the differing appearance between the actors, but in the variation between the two characters. The shy, sensitive, bumbling adolescent David was transformed into a babbling, gregarious, tactile, joking adult. However, Taylor brought to his role such a compassionate and sensitive performance by projecting the pain, confusion, anguish and hopelessness of David, that the memory of Taylor’s performance lingered long after Rush collected his Oscar.
Hicks cast respected English actors Sir John Gielgud to play the role of Parkes, David’s musical mentor, and Lynn Redgrave, as the adult David’s wife. Both were excellent in the film, although it was difficult not to compare Gielgud’s performance with a previous role as the bullying, acerbic yet paternalistic, butler in Arthur. Similarly, the relationship between David and Gillian was so under developed in the film that, for many, the wonder of it was that Gillian had agreed to marriage.
But it was the casting of David’s father, Peter which was so crucial, given that his role was pivotal to David’s eventual breakdown. Peter Helfgott was a Polish Jew, the only one of his family to survive the Nazi concentration camps. Peter’s determination to keep his own family together at whatever cost, is at the expense of David’s sanity. Hicks was determined that the role should go to an actor who could project, without verbalising, the inner torment and agony of Peter. And he found that ability in Armin Mueller-Stahl, a native East German and a veteran film actor in Germany. Mueller-Stahl had been blacklisted by the East German Government for his criticism of the Erick Honecker regime, and he emigrated initially to West Germany in 1980, and then to America. In America, Mueller-Stahl resumed his acting career appearing in Avalon, The Power of One, and The Music Box. Mueller-Stahl’s performance as Peter is electrifying, and the interaction between father and son is both mesmerising and poignant, yet agonising.
As a medium sized English language cinema, if Australia is to compete with the Hollywood majors, it has to be similar, to yet different, from the large budgeted Hollywood films. Therefore, the lower budgeted Australian films have to rely on their ingenuity and imagination to capture their audience. This has resulted in Australian films being considered as ‘quirky’, as in Strictly Ballroom . However, in Shine, Hicks has achieved a break in that perception of ‘quirkyness’ or stereotypes expected by Hollywood.
Similarly, as a minor national cinema , Australia assumes its place way behind the industries of Hollywood and Britain. Australia’s concern is that as a minor national cinema in the international arena, the nation is viewed as a weird landscape filled with stereotypic bush types such as Crocodile Dundee, freaks and convicts, and not as the multicultural urban society that exists. Australia is so proud of its status as a national cinema, that perhaps this lends itself to a sense of parochialism. Interesting, there was no attempt in any of the overseas reviews to pigeon hole Shine as a ‘foreign film’, or even as an ‘Australian film’. For the overseas milieu, they glorified in their perception of Shine as a brilliant film, irrespective of its origin of production.
Debi Enker (Scott Murray, 1994) suggests that the repression of the human spirit is a recurrent theme in Australia film, and Shine would appear to be no exception, although in true Hollywood fashion, eventually good conquers over evil. Shine is principally set against an Adelaide landscape, but the theme of the film also crosses many cultural and international boundaries. The film makes comment on the impact of Germany Nazi, on the culture of the Jewish community, paternal abuse, or on the apparent superiority of music institutions in America and Britain.
Shine as a non-linear film was structured, according to Hicks and Sardi, in concerto form, according to proper rhythms and appropriate exposition, development and recapitulation. Hicks having established that David " ‘flows’ around others, a babbling river of words who only seem defined through his virtuosity" (Sardi, 1997) expands on this imagery by the extensive use of water as a motif throughout the film, in the form of reflected raindrops, glistening sweat, overflowing sinks, or a dripping tap. In the opening scene Hicks chooses to direct Rush as a bedraggled Helfgott standing in the rain, nose pressed against a restaurant window, both physically and psychologically excluded from the society within. Given the symbolic qualities of water, the rain might either represent Helfgott’s psychological rebirth from the dark recesses of his mind, juxtaposed with the alternative, that of David losing his fragile grasp on reality and slowly drowning under the myriad of memories, abuses, and breakdowns. Water is used later to display a sign of rebellion when the weak and oppressed adolescent son rejects his father’s dictatorship by defecating in their to-be-shared bath, and contrasting with the happy and adult David singing and swimming in the pool, surrounded by his beloved music sheets.
Hicks had indicated a desire for David’s father to project his inner torment without actually verbalising it. Hicks, in his role as director, is also able to underline the inner psyche of Peter. In the scene where the father stares at his daughter slips through a gap in the asbestos fence to chat with a local youth, Peter is watches her across a barbed wire fence, and to prevent a repetition, he later nails closed the gap in the asbestos fence. Just in his determination to keep the family together eventually destroys it - Hicks shows Peter as protecting his family by making their home into that of a concentration camp, underlining that symbolic division between them and society outside.
Despite its sombre theme, this does not mean that the film was without humour, as there are many amusing scenes, both obvious and understated. The opening scene in the restaurant introduces us to the staff, and to the restaurant pianist named ‘Sam’, was surely a send-up of the ‘Play it for me, Sam’ character in Casablanca. Later the sight of a naked Helfgott, clad only in an overcoat, face smothered in that Australian standard, zinc cream, and bouncing on the children’s trampoline gives cause for much hilarity. One of the most amusing scenes was when the driver objected to David’s smoking inside the car, and David’s response was to climb out the car and proceed to follow on behind the moving vehicle.
After the success of Shine, Hicks signed a deal with Steven Spielberg’s Dreamworks to direct Universal Pictures' Snow Falling on Cedars. Sardi went on to adapt a novel The Notebook for the US company, New Line Cinema. Geoffrey Rush appeared in Children of the Revolution, he narrated director Gillian Armstrong's Oscar and Lucinda, and is playing Javert in the on-going production of Les Miserables.
In 1981, Briton Colin Welland as writer collected an Oscar for Chariots of Fire and in his acceptance speech defiantly warned Hollywood that "The Brits are coming!!!". Given the extensive involvement of Australians in the international milieu, a closing comment to this review, might be an addendum to suggest that "The Aussies are there!".
Film References
Arthur, dir. Steven Gordon, 1981.
Avalon, dir. Barry Levinson, 1990.
Adventures of Barry McKenzie, The, dir. Bruce Beresford, 1972.
Casablanca, dir. Michael Curtiz, 1942.
Chariots of Fire, dir. Hugh Hudson, 1981.
Children of the Revolution, dir. Peter Duncan, 1997.
Crocodile Dundee, dir. Peter Fairman, 1986.
Flirting, dir. John Duigan, 1991.
Ground Zero, dir. Michael Pattison, 1987.
Les Miserables, dir. Bille August, 1998.
Music Box, dir. Costa-Gavras, 1990.
My Brilliant Career, dir. Gillian Armstrong, 1979.
Nell, dir. Michael Apted, 1994.
Nostradamus Kid, The, dir. Bob Ellis, 1993.
Oscar and Lucinda, dir. Gillian Armstrong. 1997.
Power of One, dir. John G. Avildsen, 1992.
Sebastian and the Sparrow, dir. Scott Hicks, 1989.
Shine, dir. Scott Hicks, 1996.
Snow Falling on Cedars, dir. Scott Hicks, 1998.
Strictly Ballroom, dir. Baz Luhrmana, 1992.
Year My Voice Broke, The, dir. John Duigan, 1987.
Television References
Embassy, TV serial prod. ABC and Grundy 1990-2
Mission Impossible, TV series dir. Cliff Bole and Kim Manners, 1989.
Man from Snowy River, The, dir. George Miller, 1982.