1996 Australian film
Shine is a 1996 Australian biographical psychological drama film based on the life of David Helfgott, a pianist who suffered a mental breakdown and spent years in institutions.
The film stars Geoffrey Rush, Lynn Redgrave, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Noah Taylor, John Gielgud, Googie Withers, Justin Braine, Sonia Todd, Nicholas Bell, Chris Haywood, and Alex Rafalowicz. The film was directed by Scott Hicks. The screenplay was written by Jan Sardi.
Shine had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. In 1996, Geoffrey Rush was awarded the Academy Award for Best Actor at the 69th Academy Awards for his performance in the lead role.
Plot
A young man wanders through a heavy rainstorm, finding his way into a nearby restaurant. The restaurant's employees try to determine if he needs help. Despite his manic mode of speech being difficult to understand, a waitress, Sylvia, learns that his name is David Helfgott and that he is staying at a local hotel. Sylvia returns him to the hotel, and despite his attempts to engage her with his musical knowledge and ownership of various musical scores, she leaves.
As a child, David is growing up in suburban Adelaide, South Australia and competing in the musical competition of a local Eisteddfod. Helfgott has been taught to play by his father, Peter, who is obsessed with winning and has no tolerance for imperfection, dishonour and disobedience. While playing at the Eisteddfod, David is noticed by Mr. Rosen, a local piano teacher who, after initial resistance from Peter, takes over David's musical instruction.
As a teenager, David wins the state musical championship and is invited by concert violinist Isaac Stern to study in United States. Plans are made to raise money to send David off to America. Initially, his family is supportive, but then Peter forbids David to leave, thinking his absence would destroy the family. To make matters worse, Peter begins physically and mentally abusing David, which causes strain to the rest of the family.
Crushed, David continues to study and befriends local novelist and co-founder of the Communist Party of Australia, Katharine Susannah Prichard. David's talent grows until he is offered a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in London. This time, David is able to break away from his father with the encouragement of Katharine. However, his father issues an ultimatum, effectively banishing David and saying that David will never return home and never be anybody's son.
In London, David studies under Dr. Cecil Parkes and enters a Concerto competition, choosing to play Sergei Rachmaninoff's enormously demanding 3rd Concerto, a piece he had attempted to learn as a young child to make his father proud.
As David practices, his behavior becomes increasingly unhinged. David wins the competition, but collapses and suffers a mental breakdown. He is then admitted to a psychiatric hospital upon his return to Australia, David receives electric shock therapy to treat his condition. David recovers to the point where he is able to return to Adelaide. However, his attempts to reconcile with his father are rebuffed due to the latter's mindset that David abandoned his family. This causes David to relapse and he is forced to be readmitted to a mental institution.
Years later, a volunteer at the institution recognises David and knows of his musical talent. The woman takes him home but discovers that he is difficult to control, unintentionally destructive, and needs more care than she can offer. As time passes, David has difficulty adjusting to life in broader society again, and often leaves the hotel to stimulate his interests.
The next day, David returns to the restaurant where the patrons are astounded by his ability to play the piano. One of the owners befriends David and looks after him. In return, David plays at the restaurant. Through the owner, David is introduced to an employee named Gillian (Lynn Redgrave). David and Gillian soon fall in love and marry. With Gillian's help and support, David is able to come to terms with his father's death and to stage a well-received comeback concert, presaging his return to professional music.
Production
Scott Hicks decided to make a film about David Helfgott after seeing him perform in Adelaide in 1985. It took a year for Hicks to persuade Helfgott and his wife Gillian, persevering "because he was so inspired by the pianist’s story."[4]
Hicks brought on friend and colleague John MacGregor to help with research and interviewing Helfgott’s friends, family, and teachers. Jan Sardi, who had been a script editor on Hicks’ previous feature, Sebastian and the Sparrow, was also brought on to work on the final draft of the script, which had materialized by the early 1990s.[4] During the scripting stage, Ronin Films signed on as the Australasian distributor for the film.[4]
Hicks met with Geoffrey Rush in 1992, having been familiar with his work in Adelaide theatre. "He was mesmerising on stage and he had the physiognomy, and physiology and the hands to play David," said Hicks.[4] However, Hicks faced resistance from investors in his decision to cast Rush, who was then a theatre actor with no major projects to his name.[5] A crucial deal in the film getting made was Pandora Cinema’s acquisition of the international and U.S. distribution rights. "The difference there was the person we were dealing with had seen Geoffrey Rush on stage in Sydney and so knew what I was talking about when I said this actor is extraordinary," Hicks said.[4]
Geoffrey Rush resumed piano lessons—suspended when he was 14—in order not to require a hand double.[6]
Release
Shine grossed $35,892,330 in the United States and Canada. The film also grossed $10,187,418 at the box office in Australia.[7]
Home media
Roadshow Entertainment released the film on VHS on 4 July 1997, and on DVD on 18 November 1997. Umbrella Entertainment released the film on the 20th anniversary DVD on 5 May 2015.[8]
Reception
Shine was met with acclaim from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 91% approval rating based on 44 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10. The critical consensus states, "featuring a strong performance from Geoffrey Rush, Shine succeeds in telling a compelling, inspirational story without resorting to cheap sentimentality".[9] On Metacritic, the film holds an 87 rating out of a possible 100 from 27 critic reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[10] Critic Roger Ebert rated the film four out of four stars, stating "There has been much talk in 1996 about films whose filmmakers claim they were based on true stories but were kidding (Fargo), and films whose filmmakers claimed they were based on true stories but might have been lying (Sleepers). Here is a movie that is based on the truth beneath a true story."[11]
Accolades
Historical accuracy
Some family members have stated that certain events and relationships in David Helfgott's life are portrayed inaccurately in the film. Helfgott's sister Margaret Helfgott, in her book Out of Tune,[41] states that Helfgott's father Peter Helfgott was a loving husband, over-lenient parent and not the abusive tyrant portrayed in Shine. She states that Peter Helfgott's decision to prevent David from going overseas at the age of 14 was a reasonable judgment that he was not ready for such independence.[42]
Margaret and Les Helfgott (David's brother) have stated that "there was no estrangement from members of David's family following his return to Australia. On the contrary, he moved straight back into the family home, and was cared for by our family. Dad was not 'overbearing', and his main objection to David's going abroad was his concern for his son's welfare."[43]
Les Helgott has described the portrayal of their father both in Shine and in Gillian Helfgott's biography as "all outright lies". David Helfgott's first wife Clare Papp has also said that Peter Helfgott was "quite badly maligned" in the film.[44] Helfgott's mother said the film haunted her and that she felt "an evil had been done".[42]
Scott Hicks has defended the authenticity of the movie's portrayal of Helfgott's childhood and suggested that David's other siblings, Susie and Les, were at odds with Margaret's claims and were happy with the movie.[45] John Macgregor—who was involved in the research and wrote an early treatment for Shine—claimed that the portrayal of the Helfgotts' father was supported not only by David but (with the exception of Margaret) by every family member and family friend he and Scott Hicks interviewed, as well as by every interviewee who had a professional or musical connection with David throughout his early life.[46]
Pianistic ability
The New Zealand philosopher Denis Dutton claims that the film grossly exaggerates Helfgott's pianistic ability, drawing public attention away from pianists who are more talented and disciplined.[42]
