Review of Shine (1996) by Elvira B — 13 Sep 2007

This is a very difficult movie to take in. It's based on David Helfgott's true story: an international pianist child prodigy, mistreated and subjected to his father's insecurities to a dreadful degree, who suffered a breakdown during his adolescence and spent years living entirely away from reality until he overcame everything and returned to his passion: David, with the support he'd gained for being just a great person, was able to win back his life in the end. It's a very inspiring story in every sense of fhe word. The young David is played very wel by Noah Taylor, but the adult David is played by Geoffrey Rush in an Oscar winning performance. That's a good thing in this case.

Geoffrey Rush's performance is really heartbreaking and amazing. Sweet and tender and at the same time hiding something from everyone else behind the fast talking and the cheerfulness and the jokes. I think he deserved the recognition that he got. He reminds me of the fact that really few epic performances like this one take place nowadays.

So it's a movie made in the best tradition of the good Hollywood mainstream films. featuring many excellent performances. It's a really satisfying and emotionally poweful watch.