Writer: Jan Sardi, Scott Hicks
Director: Scott Hicks
Director of Photography: Geoffrey Simpson
Editor: Pip Karmel
Composer: David Hirschfelder
Lead Actor: Geoffrey Rush
Year: 1996
The fiddler on the roof has taken up the piano in Scott Hick’s 1996 film of the up and down life of a peculiar character. The story for the most part is true, based off the real life character of David Hellfgot, who was born in 1947.
The first half of the film shows David growing up and finding his talent as a pianist. All this time he was in the holds of a tight-knit Jewish family residing in Australia. Apparently growing up under different circumstances, the patriarch seemed to think his family had things pretty easy and wanted them to never express any discontent. David’s father was an encourager until his skills began to take him from his grasp. The father and son’s relationship was sacrificed when David chose to expand and move his studies to a prestigious musical college in America.
The second half shows David trying to cope with his mental disorder. Somewhere along the way a couple circuits got disconnected, leaving this talented man in a state of abnormality. The outward evidence of the disorder is a chatterbox 90% of whose dialog is pretty much nonsense.
I suppose Geoffery Rush’s performance was worthy of the Academy Award it got him. I certainly couldn’t mouth that kind of tongue ruckus! Rush quite literally bent to give an accurate portrayal. He played a messed-up man who nonetheless asked for your acceptance and care. He was even somehow likeable.
I would also like to award Noah Taylor, who played the adolescent David. What a presence (and a face) that young actor has! (At least he was young then. Mr. Bucket wasn’t till over ten years later). He was convincing playing the 17 year old boy to a 22 year old college student. They were years that, in a lot of ways, defined the man, which is likely why Noah got a significant amount of screen time. During this time, David found the independence he needed, but may not have been ready for the level of which he got.
It was the filmmakers’ intent to avoid pulling the audience out of the story to analyze the piano performances. They wanted things to be able to flow, which I think was achieved. Geoffrey Rush’s piano training certainly helped in this regard. Then to get everything synced must have been quite the editing job!
Dare I say Shine’s heart exceeds that of A Beautiful Mind? It’s certainly not the same kind of epic filmmaking spectacle, indeed, Shine is a simple film. But I do believe it may touch down on meaningful ground that glitz seems to too often overshadow.
The director, Scott Hicks with David Helfgott
Director: Scott Hicks
Director of Photography: Geoffrey Simpson
Editor: Pip Karmel
Composer: David Hirschfelder
Lead Actor: Geoffrey Rush
Year: 1996
The fiddler on the roof has taken up the piano in Scott Hick’s 1996 film of the up and down life of a peculiar character. The story for the most part is true, based off the real life character of David Hellfgot, who was born in 1947.
The first half of the film shows David growing up and finding his talent as a pianist. All this time he was in the holds of a tight-knit Jewish family residing in Australia. Apparently growing up under different circumstances, the patriarch seemed to think his family had things pretty easy and wanted them to never express any discontent. David’s father was an encourager until his skills began to take him from his grasp. The father and son’s relationship was sacrificed when David chose to expand and move his studies to a prestigious musical college in America.
The second half shows David trying to cope with his mental disorder. Somewhere along the way a couple circuits got disconnected, leaving this talented man in a state of abnormality. The outward evidence of the disorder is a chatterbox 90% of whose dialog is pretty much nonsense.
I suppose Geoffery Rush’s performance was worthy of the Academy Award it got him. I certainly couldn’t mouth that kind of tongue ruckus! Rush quite literally bent to give an accurate portrayal. He played a messed-up man who nonetheless asked for your acceptance and care. He was even somehow likeable.
I would also like to award Noah Taylor, who played the adolescent David. What a presence (and a face) that young actor has! (At least he was young then. Mr. Bucket wasn’t till over ten years later). He was convincing playing the 17 year old boy to a 22 year old college student. They were years that, in a lot of ways, defined the man, which is likely why Noah got a significant amount of screen time. During this time, David found the independence he needed, but may not have been ready for the level of which he got.
It was the filmmakers’ intent to avoid pulling the audience out of the story to analyze the piano performances. They wanted things to be able to flow, which I think was achieved. Geoffrey Rush’s piano training certainly helped in this regard. Then to get everything synced must have been quite the editing job!Dare I say Shine’s heart exceeds that of A Beautiful Mind? It’s certainly not the same kind of epic filmmaking spectacle, indeed, Shine is a simple film. But I do believe it may touch down on meaningful ground that glitz seems to too often overshadow.
The director, Scott Hicks with David Helfgott
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment