Madness in the music

Shine (1996)

This Australian film tells the tale of pianist David Helfgott and stars Geoffrey Rush in an Oscar winning performance. Following a tough childhood with an over bearing father a child prodigy has to deal with mental health problems.

While the film is well made it is fairly shallow, there is little exploration of the causes and onset of the protagonists mental illness and as always we are left to wonder about the accuracy of a film based on a “true story” given that David's first marriage is completely ignored. Geoffrey Rush gives a good 1000 word a minute portrayal of the older David but this is only a minor part of the film as large parts focus on the younger part of David's life. All in all this is an average film which may have dubious relation to real life events.

3/5