Shine Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES
A true story of the mystery of music and the miracle of love
A father whose life was his family. A son whose music was his life.
Based on the true story of Australian pianist David Helfgott, this delightful movie charts the early and traumatic early years. Telling the story in flashback we see David as he grows up and into a child prodigy while his father abuses him and his siblings with the memory of his childhood in Europe and the loss of his family in the concentration camps. David finally breaks away from his father and goes away to study overseas, he later suffers a breakdown and returns to Australia and a life in an institution. Many years later he is released and through several twists of fate (in reality even more unlikely than film portrays) he starts playing a piano in a bar before finally returning to the concert hall.
| Geoffrey Rush | David Helfgott - Adult |
| Justin Braine | Tony |
| Sonia Todd | Sylvia |
| Chris Haywood | Sam |
| Alex Rafalowicz | David Helfgott - Child |
| Gordon Poole | Eisteddfod Presenter |
| Armin Mueller-Stahl | Peter |
| Nicholas Bell | Ben Rosen |
| Danielle Cox | Suzie - Child |
| Rebecca Gooden | Margaret |
| Marta Kaczmarek | Rachel |
| John Cousins | Jim Minogue |
| Noah Taylor | David Helfgott - Adolescent |
| Paul Linkson | State Champion Announcer |
| Randall Berger | Isaac Stern |
| Scott Hicks |
7.50 out of 10 (17016 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Good, not great
posted on 04 Jul 2009There were just too many problems in this film for me to rate it as great. Geoffrey Rush did a great job, as did the young actor who played the early Helfgott. The story was interesting, and the cinematography well done. Overall, it was a good film, but it had a few glaring issues I cannot overlook.First, if we are to feel sympathy or understanding for Helfgott's condition, it would be nice to know exactly what it is. Is he schizophrenic? Not sure. I find the label of "madness" to be far too vague, and nearly cliché.Second, as a little research on Helfgott confirms, the filmmakers were not accurate in many aspects of the story. According to his own family, Helfgott never broke down while playing the "Rach 3", nor was his father an abusive taskmaster.Third, there were just too many confusing and/or vague moments throughout the film. There was a scene of David receiving electroconvulsive therapy, at one point, with absolutely no explanation of what was going on. His relationship with his father, once he left home, was confusing at best. Similarly, Gillian tried to help David write a letter to his old music professor, but we never heard any more about that, either. Loose ends and apparently superfluous scenes made the film sometimes hard to follow, and left me with an empty feeling at the end.Lastly, I take issue with the implication that overbearing parents and intense mental and emotional labor can lead one to mental illness. Schizophrenia, in particular, is not something caused by your relationships or activities. It is organic. Things can't "drive you mad," in that sense. Certainly parents can cause mental and emotional damage, but if that was goal of the film, it should have been more clear.
Shine
posted on 22 Jun 2009This movie is thrilling and so emotional that i think you should be mentally and emotionally old enough to actually be able to understand the true meaning. To understand how someone goes through a mental illness is not for any 'sane' person to understand. Although the hard work put into the movie does justify some aspects of it, the movie as a whole does not tell the truth. I think that the movie skips very important parts of the story such as the time David spent in the mental institute, and we do not get the understanding that he has moved from America to Austrlia. THis is what i believe watch it and see for your self!
I hope that Spleen from Australia,penal colonies,is a concert pianist if not,your comments are irrelevant
posted on 16 Jun 2009I have watched this movie 3 times,and my opinion has not changed.Scott Hicks is demonstrating a sensitivity that is refreshing in our cynical times.The characters and writing are far superior than most movies of today. A good insight of eccentric artists are difficult to convey to a book or screen.I believe that Scott Hicks,has delivered us to a new level of understanding of human emotion.Insofar as Rach 3 is concerned,The complexity of this music is transformed intentionally by Hicks to illustrate the complexities of this particular piece of music.Most concert pianists,historically have avoided performing this concerto in their repertoire. The movie displays the audio in an obscure manner,to fortify and illustrate the difficulties and challenges of playing it without a flaw.Reviews on this,will support my opinion,since I have witnessed first hand one particular rendition by Arthur Ozolins of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra,who is brilliant,but respects the concerto as a formidable one. I think the movie is brilliant,and Mr.Hicks nomination for an oscar would have been awarded if he was american. Mr.Hicks,has given us 2 more gems since.
Geoffrey Rush or Noah Taylor
posted on 14 May 2009Which actor did you like most? Although Geoffrey's performance was only for 30 minutes I think he did an amazing job and the Oscar was well deserved. At that time I got disappointed because I thought that Tom Cruise deserved more but I said that before watching Shine. Noah Taylor did an amazing performance as well and I think he deserved an best supporting actor nomination. What is most fascinating on the movie is the classical music and also the performances of Geoffrey Rush, Noah Taylor, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Lynn Redgrave and John Gilgud. This movie is a proof that the Australian cinema is strong! Now which actor do you think that did the best job as David Helfgott? Geoffrey Rush or Noah Taylor?
Fiction, not a biopic--defamation of people still alive
posted on 16 Mar 2009My father and I loved the movie "Shine"; it should never have been advertised or presented as a true story of an actual person or his family. After reading David's sister, Margaret's, book on their family and David's mental illness, I will never be able to view "Shine" in the same way. I believe Hollywood should have ethical boundaries in terms of what they portray as true or as a biography when the fictionalized account defames living people and misrepresents actual people and severe mental illness. I recommend people read the book Out of Tune to correct misconceptions about real people portrayed in this film. The cast for this film was first-rate and it would have been a boxoffice hit without stating that it was true or an actual biopic; without it tied to actual people in this distorted way I would have rated the movie 5 stars. Bravo to all the people attempting to set the record straight!
Shining Brightly Only in the Light of Fiction
posted on 17 Feb 2009This film portrays the fictionalized account of pianist David Helfgott and the woes he suffered at being a piano prodigy from an early age. A film that is somewhat uplifting but really over-the-top as to the merits of the main character, his life, and his accomplishments when compared to the lives of other professional musicians and composers.
The film takes poetic license in showing how David Helfgott's gift for performing on the piano was frustrated by an abusive father and instant fame. The film goes back in time and shows how David became a Rachmaninoff virtuoso but how the pressures of public performance and instant fame forced him to retreat back into a secluded private life. David's talents and desire for publicity reemerge after performing for a small crowd at a bar and encountering his future spouse. Although the film is relatively well done, David Helfott is an unsympathetic character who is overly neurotic, uncommunicative, arrogant, and altogether hostile. Unlike the lives of great composers or other great musicians, there is nothing exceptional about Helfott's personality or accomplishments to make his unpleasant traits palletable. He is not a Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Wagner, etc., whose vices and misdeeds can be forgiven due to their genius and unique contributions to the arts. In short, although Helfott certainly has talent at performing on the piano, there is really nothing about him or his performances that equate him either at or above the level of other pianists such as Rubinstein, Lupu, Brendel, Perriah, etc. The dramatic life and trials of Spielman during WWII in Polanski's "The Pianist" was a true story far more deserving of being put on film than Helfott's which, in comparison, seems pretty mundane.
This is somewhat of an uplifting story about how fame and attention are too much for those that are overly eccentric and have a demanding father as a music tutor. Otherwise, there is nothing particularly spectacular about David Helfgott, his personality, or his skills as a pianist that make this film shine through. The only things shining bright here are the exaggerations as to the "tragedies" of the artist's life making him a rather unsympathetic hero when all is said and done. When compared to the tragic lives of other performers such as Jaqueline du Pré, I don't find this dramatic biographical exaggeration to be anything special to make a movie stand out. Cellist Jaqueline du Pré had her life and artistic career cut tragically short by M.S. from which she later died and the film covering her life was a great depiction of her triumphs and painful end. Such tragedies make David Helfgott seem as little more than an overconfident prodigy who had an emotional breakdown when he realized, at the critical moment of a public performance, that he wasn't shining brightly enough to be a public performer in the spotlight afterall. Too bad! Why should anyone really care? There's always serious pressure and competition in these circles and life isn't always fair! In the end, his life's hurdles as a professional musician weren't exceptionally harder to overcome than those overcome by other professional musicians or composers. In that light, David Helfgott's relatively mundane life and minimal fame as a pianist hardly seem to be worth making a movie about.
Still lives with me...still a part of me, Thank You...
posted on 17 Jan 2009Thank You Scott Hicks, David and Gillian Helfgott, Jan Sardi, Geoffrey Rush, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Noah Taylor and the entire extraordinary cast for this film. Geoffrey Rush, you, did indeed bring this remarkable man to life on film. Scott Hicks, many, many thanks for the years spent to make this extraordinary film. It was in my opinion the 'Best Picture' of the Year..oh, dear old Oscar and it's love for the 'epic', sigh... (and this from someone who loves the writings of Michael Ondaatje, no pretensions intended...) Simply, Thank You for bringing to life this film, which still lives within me. Personally, I cannot put into words what this film meant to me. Professionally, having studied acting, been there done that, etc....Stunned by the remarkable performances of every cast member. It is, indeed a film that touched more than one facet of this viewer... So, again, Thank You for this remarkable film as a fine piece of Cinematic Art... And Thank You for much else, so difficult to explain... It lives with me .. it simply cut through my heart and mind with it's amazing Spirit....
loving and caring !
posted on 22 Nov 2008Even my 8 and 10 year old children loved this movie which inspired them to practise harder their piano lessons ! The story needed some explainations for them but then made my children think for days about it. They finally understood how own behavior can influence especially weaker persons and that you have to be aware of it... A very loving and caring story !
Quite superb...
posted on 21 Nov 2008SHINE is a compelling and touching story about music, talent, performance, pressure, and redemption. Scott Hicks' masterpiece is difficult to summarise in any traditional review or comment because it touches upon so many facets and ranges of human emotion. It is no surprise that this tale, based 'loosely' on the life of pianist David Helfgott (I say loosely because this is by no means a strict documentary, as many liberties are taken with the script) was nominated for the Best Picture and Best Director Oscars, and were it not for THE English PATIENT, would have walked away with the grand prize.Geoffrey Rush as the adult Helfgott is amazing and his Best Lead Actor victory for his portrayal of this musical genius was well-deserved as the performance was simply breathtaking. A popular complaint is that Rush was only on screen for less than half the run-time of the film and as such should not have really won. The counterargument is such: it is the quality of the performance that counts, not the screen-time. Armin Muller-Stahl is equally impressive and deserved his nomination. My only gripe is that Noah Taylor was not given at least a nod for his portrayal of the younger Helfgott.The writing, cinematography, and musical score are top-notch and transform this Motion Picture from good to great. 8/10. 3.5 stars (out of 4). Should enter my Top 250 at 206. Highly recommended.
one of the most powerful musical films I've ever seen
posted on 31 Oct 2008This film contains some of the most moving and powerful musical pieces put on film. David's playing of "Flight of the Bumblebee" and "Rach 3" are enough to leave your jaw dropped wide open. The cinematography and drama during David's flight into insanity while playing the Rach 3 are emotionally compelling and bring a new meaning to film making. Geoffry Rush was more deserving of his oscar than many winners in recent years. For a man like me to say that a film was emotional is difficult but the father-son relationship is very dramatic and dare I say, emotionally draining. Brilliant film making.
A glittering turd.
posted on 29 Aug 2008This film--despite its Oscar winning performance and technical polish--is for the most part a load of steaming excrement that is morally and aesthetically bankrupt. Whether a film is straight fiction, biographical or a documentary it has to have a core of truth and authenticity. This film doesn't even attempt that: it's just cliché after cliché larded with cheap sentiment, over-simplification, and glaring inaccuracies, riddled with narrative gaps you could fly a plane through. At the end of the film I didn't feel like I knew the central character any better than I did at the beginning; indeed, no insights were given about the main characters current mental condition, or what led to his nervous breakdown. There was more psychological truth in Rocky III than this canard. It's a shame that David Helfgott's father got so tarnished in this depiction; the film's producers should have known better than to sully the reputation of a deceased man who cannot defend himself against the phony accusations presented here.Biographies don't need to compromise the truth in order to be entertaining and win over audiences. Case in point: Jane Campion's superb film,"An Angel at My Table", another Aussie production about a mentally troubled artist--in this case, writer Dorothy Frame. It manages to be authentic, complex, revealing and yes, even inspirational, without glossing over or the uncomfortable truths of its difficult subject matter.
Casting problems aside, the movie is astounding.
posted on 26 Aug 2008(spoilers)although the movie at the end runs much like Mel Gibsons Tim, I certainly appreciated the movie. Being a fan of Geoffery Rush, since Les Miserables, I'd always wanted to watch this movie. It wasn't what I was expecting, but no harm done. He portrays the character like everything else he does. With a great sense of realism. He's not Geoffery Rush, he's David. I simply loved it.Now some things Id like to hit out on. First, the casting. The family seems poorly cast. Now Mr. Stahl is great and wonderful, but he was around 65 at the time of the shooting of this movie. Much too old for the part.
The actress playing the mother was just right, but when David was much older, she wasn't a day older.Not much was played on his schizophrenia. The bed scene seemed like inspiration for Beautiful Mind. It might be because they wanted to focus more on his piano playing than his illness. Which I can understand.I'd highly recommend this to drama fans. Wonderful film.10/10Quality: 9/10 Entertainment: 10/10 Replayable: 9/10
Simply marvelous, wonderful, phenomenal, remarkable!!!!!
posted on 18 Aug 2008This is truly one of the best movies in the world!! If anybody wants to cry, but feel good about it then this is the perfect movie. This is another movie that displays how GREAT Australian actors are. I truly liked this movie because it is well written and it really gives the audience the satisfaction they want to get or deserve. Aside from being well written, the movie also displayed how important a family could be, and how the main characters father treasured the family he had. I did not really dislike anything in the film except how the main character was used in a number of ways. I hope many will like thgis film as I did.
An odd story
posted on 25 Jul 2008This is based on the life of David Helfgott, an Australian piano prodigy who escaped the stifling influence of his strange, domineering father to attend the Royal College of Music in London. Apparently he was always eccentric, but his career was cut short by a mysterious seizure that turned him into a chain-smoking, shuffling, manic-mumbling, confused person who spent years institutionalized. Eventually he wandered into a piano bar and was re-discovered.
Shine! Shine!
posted on 18 Jul 2008It's hard to be an artist, both talented and in turmoil by inner demons like David Helfgott. Geoffrey Rush deserved his Oscar for this role. He truly brings the character alive and well to the audiences. Lynn Redgrave deserved a supporting actress nomination for her performance as the woman who would turn out to be the love of David's life. Googie Withers, one of Australia's best known actresses, played beloved Catherine, his mentor and financier in David's younger years. John Gielgud has a brief but memorable performance. I like the fact that they filmed this film in both Australia and England. This film really examines mental illness and how David triumphs over the odds. He was down and out and forgotten. Somehow when you hear his music, you remember how much he triumphed over the odds. Despite his mental breakdown at what would have been the beginning of an extraordinary career, he was down but not out. He had to recover and slowly work his way back to the living. When David plays music, he becomes alive and genius to us. Many people have been where David has been and are still going through the pains of life. This movie is an inspiration for all of us, artists-writer, performers, painters to get up and rise again. When he returns to play live in a small Perth bar, you get chills down your spine. It's a great kind of film and you wish to be in Perth, Australia.
Some Good Drama Some Overdone
posted on 22 Jun 2008Shine is a movie that definitely took a great deal of thought and planning. The premise is the realtionship of a classical piano playing son prodigy with his passionate yet abusive father. When the father refuses to allow his son to pursue his talents in London, our hero runs away to rebel against his father.
Later on he suffers a nervous breakdown and stammers terribly throughout the course of his adult life. He finds a love interest and is able to find eventual success in his musical pursuits.
There is some excellent cinematography particularly of the sheer expression of our hero's piano playing ability. Somehow the repetitive scenes of our hero standing in the rain or throwing his eye glasses off gets a bit wearisome. Nonetheless, our hero perserveres in the end so the sense of triumph does extend this rating to about 3 1/2 stars.
The Title Says It All
posted on 03 Aug 2009DAMN, is Geoffrey Rush a great actor, or what? I saw "Les Miserables" on video and "Shakespeare in Love" in the theater shortly after seeing "Shine", and I didn't even realize it was the same guy. Very, VERY well deserved Oscar for him. The movie is very good, of course, with an interesting story about how genius is both a blessing and a curse-but it's Rush's show, and he uses every minute of it. And I do love Rachmaninov, so that's a bonus for me. Quietly spectacular.