August 26 - Shine

This is a movie with a scene that happens today – August 26. I hope you will enjoy this film and watch it tonight.

SHINE

Australian David Helfgott wanders into a restaurant, talking in a non-stop nonsensical way. A waitress Sylvia takes him back to the hotel where he lives. In a flashback we see David is a child piano prodigy trained by his domineering father. After Mr. Rosen, a local pianist takes over David’s musical training, he wins the state piano competition and Isaac Stern invites him to study in the USA. His father while initially supportive finally says David cannot go. After being the runner up at the national instrumental & vocal competition, David wins a scholarship to the Royal Music School in London. This time David defies his father and goes. David selects Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3, an extremely difficult piece for a competition, which he wins. However, at the same time David has become manic and is hospitalized and receives electric shock therapy. He returns to an institution in Australia. One of the volunteers recognizes him and he stays with her for a while, but his unpredictable and uncontrollable behavior lead her to put him in the hotel he is staying in at the start of the film. David returns to the restaurant and starts playing there. He meets Gillian, with whom he develops a romantic relationship and on August 26, 1984 [1:36:01 to 1:36:32] David marries Gillian. She helps him stage a comeback concert.

An interesting bio. Stands on it’s own merits as a film as I’d never heard of Helfgott before this movie. His Dad must rank as one of the worst cinema fathers of all time.

Love You to Bits and Pieces by Gilliam Helfgott (Penguin Books, New York, 1996) at page 146 gives the wedding date

Producer - Jane Scott

Director - Scott Hicks

Screenplay - Jan Sardi

Awards – The film won the Best Actor(Rush) Oscar. The movie was also nominated for the Best Supporting Actor (Mueller-Stahl), Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Original Dramtic Score, Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay Oscars at the 69^th Academy Awards.

Runtime – 1 hour 45 minutes

Released – January 21, 1996

Starring –

Geoffrey Rush as David Helfgott

Sonia Todd as Sylvia

Armin Mueller-Stahl as Peter Helfgott

Nicholas Bell as Ben Rosen

John Gielgud as Cecil Parkes

Lynn Redgrave as Gillian