Shine
1996 Directed by Scott Hicks
Synopsis
Pianist David Helfgott, driven by his father and teachers, has a breakdown. Years later he returns to the piano, to popular if not critical acclaim.
Popular reviews
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A musician biopic that is better than most. All the performances are great - Rush was very good, of course, but Mueller-Stahl and Gielgud were my favorites - and it breezed along nicely. Also, this film wisely focused on the music and the all-consuming obsession that can go along with it. The sequence where he learns the "Rach 3" in the music academy was the highlight of the film for me.
My only real criticisms come from my general dislike of the biopic format itself. By definition, things are simplified and glossed-over in the genre. There's so much focus on putting all the key events in the film that nothing gets explored in great detail. Yes the Rach 3 sequence…
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The Holocaust is over but the specter persists generationally. Until, the heart string snaps and the payment for liberation is sanity.
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Love, mental illness and great musical talent that couldn't be realised due to the mental illness, even with the love that helped rescue the sufferer. This is the story of David Helfgott, a talented pianist who went through severe mental breakdown (in real life). It is an extraordinary tale of love, and the damage that can be caused by mental illness.
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There are scenes in this movie, for example one with David playing piano during the worst time in his life, that are hard to forget about. The piano is falling apart (but it doesn’t matter). David is smoking a cigarette (but he doesn’t realize it). His glasses are broken (but he doesn’t need them). Music is the only thing that matters; it’s David’s freedom, his escape, such an integral part of his being that at times it consumes him entirely.
Shine is a beautiful story of madness and love masquerading as different things – some more obvious, some less, some negative, some positive. The performances here are breathtaking, and Geoffrey Rush’s oscar well-deserved. In the end credits, one line proclaims…
Recent reviews
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A musician biopic that is better than most. All the performances are great - Rush was very good, of course, but Mueller-Stahl and Gielgud were my favorites - and it breezed along nicely. Also, this film wisely focused on the music and the all-consuming obsession that can go along with it. The sequence where he learns the "Rach 3" in the music academy was the highlight of the film for me.
My only real criticisms come from my general dislike of the biopic format itself. By definition, things are simplified and glossed-over in the genre. There's so much focus on putting all the key events in the film that nothing gets explored in great detail. Yes the Rach 3 sequence…
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Egyszerűen nem találok szavakat. Ülj le és nézd meg.
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true story, good story, but the storytelling is boring
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This guy's crazy
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The Holocaust is over but the specter persists generationally. Until, the heart string snaps and the payment for liberation is sanity.
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Geoffrey Rush is masterful here, and the film is both dramatic and touching. Noah Taylor, a character actor I have always loved, is just as excellent as Rush. Wonderful music.
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Love, mental illness and great musical talent that couldn't be realised due to the mental illness, even with the love that helped rescue the sufferer. This is the story of David Helfgott, a talented pianist who went through severe mental breakdown (in real life). It is an extraordinary tale of love, and the damage that can be caused by mental illness.
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Solid acting, but predictable and cliched musical biopic with a bad ending.
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A good movie is one that draws many emotions from a person and hopefully makes them think some in the process. Shine does a great many of these things, as well as having some amazing piano playing by a mentally unstable man who likes to swim in the ocean naked.