Inspired by the troubled but ultimately triumphant life of
classical pianist David Helfgott, SHINE focuses on Helfgott's painful retreat into a
private world while still in his early 20s and on the brink of a glittering international
career.Spanning the 1950s to the 1980s, SHINE dramatizes the deeply moving way in which
Helfgott (played by Geoffrey Rush in an Oscar® winning performance), after years of
obscurity, achieves both personal and professional fulfillment through the love and
support of a remarkable woman (played by Lynn Redgrave.)
Avoiding the straightforward, linear approach of conventional biography, SHINE employs
an impressionistic musical structure that intricately counterpoints past and present, to
tell a story that has all the power of actuality and the poetry of art.
Joining Rush and Redgrave in SHINE is an ensemble cast that includes Armin
Mueller-Stahl (Avalon, The Music Box), Noah Taylor (Flirting, The Year My Voice Broke),
and Academy Award winner Sir John Gielgud. The film was produced by Jane Scott from a
screenplay by Jan Sardi. Geoffrey Simpson (Little Women, Green Card) was director of
photography, and Pip Karmel the editor.
SHINE was an international success, winning many awards, including a BAFTA nomination
for Lynn Redgrave as Best Supporting Actress.
Geoffrey Rush and Lynn with director Scott Hicks outside Royal Albert Hall, London
