Review of My Brilliant Career (1979) by Lucy W — 18 Jul 2012
A woman with literary aspirations falls for an upper class man who tempts her toward marriage, away from her work.
The film sets up a familiar dichotomy: Sybylla finds that she must either pursue her career ambitions or settle down to the expectations of Victorian society and marry. Obviously, this is a familiar construct, one replayed to perfection in Henry James's Portrait of a Lady, but what I found lacking in My Brilliant Career was an exploration of who Sybylla is as an artist. After all, whether or not her book is good and should be written is significant. Instead, what becomes clear is how she doesn't fit in with Victorian, upper-class society and seems even more out of place with lower class society. Her only connection is with Harry Beecham, whom she rejects to pursue her work.
Overall, because one side of the conflict is never fully explored, I found most of My Brilliant Career lacking.
This review of My Brilliant Career (1979) was written by Lucy W on 18 Jul 2012.
My Brilliant Career has generally received positive reviews.
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