Shine

Title: Shine
Genre: Biography/Drama
Rating: 3.5/5
Starring: Geoffrey Rush, Noah Taylor, Armin Mueller-Stahl

This is based on the true the story of "David Helfgott ", an "Australian" pianist. In this film, we see how he emerges from a poor family, a semi-tyrant of a father, and overcomes mental breakdown to be a famous concert pianist. Although this isn't a complete accurate description of his life, many things are exaggerated including his playing ability; we come to a good movie that takes us through the mind of a turbulent man.

Let me start by handling the cast. We saw "David" portrayed by three actors, "Alex Rafalowicz" as a boy, "Noah Taylor" as a young man and brilliantly by "Geoffrey Rush" as an adult. I am sure many know "Rush" from his role as "Cp. Barbossa" from the "Pirates of the Caribbean" series, but to those who only know him from that series, this film is a hidden gem that deserves to be seen. "Rush" brilliantly portrayed "David" as being almost driven to the point of madness from his past. To give the film more credibility he resumed his piano lessons, the lessons he started at the age of 14, to be his own hand-double. "Rush" showed us, with all sincerity, how "David" was able to overcome his past through love of a woman he meets. "Taylor" did a good job as a younger "David", showing us his best struggles in London's "Royal College of Music". He made me believe the effects some relentless parents have on their children. All what "David" wanted was to please his father, even if it meant defying him with his enrollment in the college, which we see by him choosing to play the difficult "Rachmaninoff's 3rd Concerto". "Taylor" did a convincing job with the events that eventually led to the breakdown. We didn't see much of "David" as a boy, but I think what we see is enough to show us his origin. "Alex" was "David", as I saw, in this film. The father was the darkest figure in this film; the role was really fitting to "Armin". Although we see some moments that show him as benign father, most of the time he's a tyrant that eventually from his pressure causes a mental breakdown to his son. The others didn't stand as much as these, they were appropriate, but that's about it.

One of the things I really enjoyed here is the direction of the piano plays. The director, "Scott Hicks", carefully showed us how piano developed from just a talent to a form of self expression, something "David" couldn't use with mere words. The direction and editing of this film really stands out when we see young "David" performing the 3rd on stage after a long time of training. The pressures, the emotions, the expectations were captured perfectly. "Hicks" and the actors, especially "Rush", brought to us a journey from bedlam to peace, portrayed trough the life and experiences of "David Helfgott". Not to forget the great soundtrack of classical music that gave the film a touch it deserved.

Some of the major downturns in this film are the misrepresentations it has. The first part of David's life that we saw with represented truthfully, that's how good he was, but the adult part was heavily exaggerated. "David" as an adult didn't play in the perfect way the film showed us; on the contrary, his performances did have technical mistakes and deficiencies. Many of the people that see this film would enjoy seeing "David live, but I think mostly because of the film rather than attending a piano concert preformed greatly. Another aspect was the representation of the father. According to David's sister, "Margaret", contrary to her book "Out of Tune" we saw the father as a monster, which refused "David" many opportunities. The way the father as presented can be considered a total fabrication. Also, another thing I didn't like was that I felt a missing gap between the young "David" and the adult "David". We see the how the breakdown happens when "David" was young, and its outcomes and causes, then years later we see the adult "David" after reaching a completely far point, I felt it would've been better if we had more awareness of this period in between.

"Geoffrey Rush" is great in this film. I really advice those who only know him as "Barbossa" to check this film out. I won't call it his best performance; I'd leave that to a more sinister one that we might feel guilty for liking, one I shall be reviewing soon and its film. Maybe it's better to describe it the story behind the story, regardless, it was fun and pleasant to watch, and it showed us how some one can shine from darkness.