Laserdisc Title: "SHINE"
Edition: The Criterion Collection (Single Disc)
Directed By: Scott Hicks
Starring: Armin Mueller-Stahl, Noah Taylor, Geoffrrey Rush, Lynn Redgrave, John Gielgud
Special Features: ---see footnotes below for more details---
Production / Year: 1996 Fine Line Featurs / Australian Film Finance Corp Ltd.
Running Time: 105 Minutes / Color
Audio Format: Digital Sound, Dolby Surround, Stereo, Dolby Digital AC-3
Video Format: Videoscope 1.85:1, NTSC, CLV (Extended Play)
Miscellaneous Features: Rated PG-13
Distributed By: The Voyager Company (First Printing 1997)
Catalog / Spine Number: CC1486L (Spine Number 335)

IMPORTANT: This is a 12-inch Diameter Laserdisc, which is NOT the same as DVD and cannot be played on a DVD player!

Cosmetic Condition:
Disc (s): Very Good - Few very light to very minor hairline surface swirls or very light fingerprint marks
Jacket: Excellent - Original outer plastic shrink wrap still partially intact

Synopsis:

This tearjerker by Australian filmmaker Scott Hicks is a surprising story about real-life classical pianist David Helfgott, an Australian who rose to international prominence at a very young age in the 1950s and '60s, and suffered a psychological collapse after enduring years of abuse from his father (Armin Mueller-Stahl). Hicks has three very fine actors portraying Helfgott at different stages of his life, including the adorably wry and goofy Noah Taylor (Flirting), who takes up the character's teen years, and Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush, giving a great performance playing the musician as a schizophrenic adult. Despite the Helfgotts' compromised psychological health, Shine is hardly a depressing experience. If anything, the story is really about how long one person's life can take to make glorious sense of itself. Sir John Gielgud, in golden form, plays Helfgott's teacher.

The real David Helfgott actually contributed as a musician (pianist, of course) for this wonderful film about his life, dramatizing his struggles through his childhood and breakdown as an adolescent. Yet it isn't about gloomy and depressing accounts but about survival and living to the best of one's abilities. Those who have little patience with people who are schizophrenic may become a bit uneasy at the performance of Geoffrey Rush who played the adult Helfgott. Rush's acting was impeccable and very believable, which is why some might be a little agitated or confused at the stuttering and incomplete and rambling dialog by Rush's character.

But have patience in getting to understand Helfgott as the movie progresses. It can confuse the viewer since there are flashbacks and flash forwards. But you know, this was one beautifully produced movie. It has had high replay, because the film simply touches the heart. Just relax and allow the movie (and Helfgott's character) absorb you. By the end, you'll really FEEL how much of a journey that David Helfgott traveled to arrive where he did.

And for those who enjoy Lynn Redgrave, my gosh. Her portrayal of Gillian was superb. Redgrave didn't even get any type of top billing and she didn't appear until late in the movie, yet I felt like Gillian and David were my own family by the end.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Film-to-tape transfer approved by director Scott Hicks

Discrete 5.1 channel Dolby Digital soundtrack

Audio commentary by director Scott Hicks and actor Geoffrey Rush

Audio interview with David Helfgott conducted by Scott Hicks

Video footage of David Helfgott shot by Scott Hicks

THIS IS NOT A DVD!!! THIS IS A 12" LASERDISC AND WILL NOT PLAY IN A DVD PLAYER

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