Shine

Shine (1996), directed by Scott Hicks

Every year features at least one film which serves as the "middlebrow" hit of the year. Past "middlebrow" hits include Chariots of Fire, Amadeus, and 1995's Il Postino. These are films which are pure entertainment, regarded by the "great unwashed" as a great piece of art, and looked down upon by the cultural elite.

Shine is not a timeless piece of art, but it is a perfectly enjoyable movie. Once again, we have insanity portayed onscreen (7 out of 10 of the 1996 Oscar leading actor/actress nominees played characters who were sick, handicapped, or insane), but it is done entirely new here. Rather than David Helfgott's breakdown done in normal drooling fashion, it shows us the view from inside his head. As he plays the piano furiously, we watch his hands hit the keyboard, but do not hear music, only the clicking of keys. A truly original film image.

Films about passionate musicians (usually pianists) are legion, so in this way, Shine is nothing new. On the other hand, films about mentally ill musicians are far rarer (I can only think of Amadeus). On the other hand, a "one-note" portrayal of mental illness (as Geoffrey Rush plays David Helfgott) is very unoriginal (see Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man for a similar performance). On the other hand...but as Tevye says in Fiddler on the Roof, there is no other hand.

The performances are generally strong. Noah Taylor as David at college age is perhaps the strongest: he portrays naivete, without the crutch of getting to play "standard crazy" as Geoffrey Rush does. Armin Mueller-Stahl is a bit too stiff perhaps as David's father, but he still can be quietly terrifying. He also enters the small group of actors who have portrayed a Jew, a Nazi, and a Habsburg noble. It's good to see Lynn Redgrave again: she is charming as the woman who marries Helfgott. Rush is, as I've already hinted above, overpraised in the central role. His performance was good, but not as good as William H. Macy in Fargo or Ralph Fiennes in The English Patient. Not Oscar-worthy.

You have to admire the filmmakers, however: with a tiny budget and without big stars, with a plot that is unlikely to appeal to the masses, they made a charming little movie that ended up being a minor hit. Though not flawless, this film has its heart (and brain) in the right place, unlike so much Hollywood product.