SHINE

1 hour 46 minutes, Australia/UK 1996

Director: Scott Hicks; Producer: Jane Scott; Screenplay: Jan Sardi and Scott Hicks; Photography: Geoffrey Simpson; Production Design: Vicki Niehus; Editing: Pip Karmel; Music: David Hirschfelder.

Stars: Geoffrey Rush (David Helfgott, Adult), Armin Mueller-Stahl (Peter Helfgott) Noah Taylor (David Helfgott, Adolescent), Lynn Redgrave (Gillian), Googie Withers (Katherine Susannah Pritchard), Sonia Todd (Sylvia), Nicholas Bell (Ben Rosen), John Gielgud (Professor Cecil Parkes), Justin Braine (Tony), Chris Haywood (Sam)

A film nowadays rarely achieves perfection. Shine comes damn close. Taken at first glance, the true story of an Australian child prodigy pianist who suffers a mental breakdown and spends years in institutions, only to re-emerge and become a concert pianist would normally have the multiplex audiences running for the exits. But wait and, please, give Shine a chance to prove that it is one of the most finely crafted films for a long time. Shine opens with a man, dishevelled and mumbling to himself, beating his fists against the window of a coffee shop in downtown Sydney. We then jump back thirty years, to the Helfgott household. Peter Helfgott (Armin Mueller-Stahl), a survivor of the Holocaust, has a passion for music which he instils in his children. Although the family are poor, music plays a major part in the Helfgott family's life - Peter repeatedly tells his son David "Music is the only thing that matters - everything else will let you down". David is becoming quite a talented pianist under his father's tutelage and, when he wins a local music competition, attracts the attention of local teacher Ben Rosen (Nicholas Bell). Peter reluctantly agrees to let Rosen teach David the piano. As the years pass, David's talent grows and he becomes a local celebrity, winning state championships and, eventually, an offer of a place at a prestigious school in America. However, Peter forbids David to attend the school, saying that the family will never break up for any reason. David begins to withdraw into himself, developing nervous tics as the pressure being put on him by his father begins to affect his mental stability. His only friend comes in the shape of Katherine Susannah Pritchard (Googie Withers), a local novelist, who spurs David on to fly the nest and fulfil his potential. When another offer of a scholarship arrives, this time from London, David defiantly disobeys his father, who disowns his son for destroying their family unit. In London, David is taken under the wing of Professor Cecil Parkes (John Gielgud), who instructs David in the playing of a piece by Rachmaninov - the Rach 3 - which is one of the most difficult and demanding piano pieces in existence. During the playing of the Rach 3 at a school concert, the pressure finally cracks David, who suffers a mental breakdown on stage.

As I said, in description Shine sounds as though it will be a highbrow film, only for the arty and not a film the regular cinema-goer would enjoy. The things which lift Shine above this are a trio of outstanding performances by Rush, Mueller-Stahl and Taylor, the way in which it explores the reasons behind David's breakdown, the seesaw relationship between David and his father, and the wonderful, heavenly music by some of the world's greatest composers. Shine is, without a doubt, an actor's film. Geoffrey Rush, a highly respected Australian stage actor, makes his screen debut here and is truly wonderful as the adult David Helfgott. When we first see him, David is pounding on the window of a coffee shop, muttering what at first seems like complete gibberish in machine-gun fashion. However, as the film wears on David's behaviour, although consistently erratic, becomes familiar and, to a point, appealing as one gets used to listening to his rantings, some of which contain real comedy gems. Similarly, Noah Taylor (from Bangkok Hilton and Flirting) as the adolescent David gives a performance of great depth as he changes from being simply a shy kid to having a complete breakdown. The scene in which the breakdown occurs, whilst he is playing the Rach 3, is the best in the film, beginning with the glorious sounds of Rachmaninov's music, but segmented by the dull, thudding sounds which reverberate in David's head. Sweat flies in all directions, unruly hair sways and falls with the music and, as the performance of the Rach 3 becomes more frenzied, so too does the camerawork, taking the viewer on a disorientating ride around the mind of young Helfgott. Whilst Rush and Taylor are both excellent (Rush recently won a Golden Globe and is hotly tipped for an Oscar), the performance of the film comes from Armin Mueller-Stahl, as David's father Peter. Mueller-Stahl, who has also been nominated for an Oscar, portrays Peter as a proud man who strongly believes in the strength and importance of the family. Peter has obviously been through a lot of hardship in his life, and makes sure that his children know this (he constantly makes them say "I am a very lucky boy", or suchlike). However, it is his ideal that families should not be separated, no matter what the cost to the individual, that is the catalyst for David's mental problems. Peter has a deep and true love for his family, but his way of showing this affection is to force it upon his family - a sort of "you will love me, or else" attitude which, rather than bringing them together, alienates the family.