Cinema
Shine
Scott Hicks · 1996
Synopsis
David Helfgott is a gifted young pianist whose father, Peter, wants to make him a winner and intends to decide everything for him. The story opens on the adult man who walks into a restaurant one rainy evening, then goes back to his childhood in Adelaide, to his competitions and to the invitation to study in the United States that his father forbids him to accept. David then wins a scholarship to study music in London; he works there on Rachmaninov's third concerto.
Context
The director saw David Helfgott in concert in Adelaide in 1985 and took nearly a year to persuade him and his wife, Gillian, to take part in the project; Jan Sardi wrote the screenplay from 1990. Investors hesitated over the choice of Geoffrey Rush, who took up piano lessons again so as to do without a double; the soundtrack uses recordings by the pianist himself. Presented at Sundance on 21 January 1996, the film cost 6 million dollars and earned about 36 million. The musician's sister, Margaret, disputed the portrait of the father in a book, and one of his brothers called it a lie.
Who it is for
A film in English from Australia, an hour and three quarters long, in which one hears the pianist whose life it tells being played.
Prizes and reception
Seven Oscar nominations, including best film, and the Oscar for best actor for Geoffrey Rush in 1997.
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