Shine
As Reviewed by James Brundage
The Scott Hicks film "Shine" is a stunning blend of music and cinema. He has directed one of the best films of the year (and has a Best Picture and Best Director nominee to prove for it).
This interesting and engaging film opens with Geoffrey Rush (Young Einstein) talking in an all-too fast voice and then cascades to reveal more and more of his abusive childhood through flashbacks. Each time Rush appears on screen, he captures your attention with his eccentric performance, and is now running neck-to-neck in my guess for the Best Actor Academy Award (with Ralph Finnes of "The English Patient" as his only major competitor). It a probability that he will get the award, if only because of the fact that he plays with such passion that he can easily portray the wild lifestyle of pianist David Helfgott.
The film's style allows the audience to get a good taste of the spirit of Helfgott, showing them him playing his own, darker interpretation of the monstrous "Ragmaninnov's Concherto #3" and then allowing everyone to see just how abusive his father was, hanging up the phone every time David tries to call him.
The real David was the pianist for most of the film, and the performance shows through in one particular scene in which he sits down at a piano in the middle of an Australian piano bar and proceeds to play all of "Flight of the Bumblebee" with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth.
Although it takes a degree of musical appreciation to enjoy, the film is good enough quality wise to make an entertaining two hours. This one is worth seeing if you enjoy quality pictures, but is neither funny nor suspenseful. It is a story with power, not a story with thrills.
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