My Brilliant Career (film)

Last updated

My Brilliant Career
My Brilliant Career FilmPoster.jpeg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Gillian Armstrong
Screenplay by Eleanor Witcombe
Based on My Brilliant Career
1901 novel
by Miles Franklin
Produced by Margaret Fink
Starring
Cinematography Donald McAlpine
Edited byNicholas Beauman
Music by Nathan Waks
Production
companies
The New South Wales Film Corporation
Margaret Fink Productions
Distributed by GUO Film Distributors
Release date
  • 17 August 1979 (1979-08-17)
Running time
100 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
BudgetAU$890,000 [1]
Box officeAU$3,052,000 (Australia)
$2.5 million (US/Canada) [2]

My Brilliant Career is a 1979 Australian period drama film directed by Gillian Armstrong, and starring Judy Davis, Sam Neill, and Wendy Hughes. Based on the 1901 novel of the same name by Miles Franklin, it follows a young woman in rural, late-19th-century Australia whose aspirations to become a writer are impeded first by her social circumstance, and later by a budding romance.

Contents

Filmed in the Monaro region, New South Wales in 1978, My Brilliant Career was released in Australia in August 1979, and later premiered in the United States at the New York Film Festival. It received significant critical acclaim, and was nominated for numerous AACTA Awards, winning three, while Davis won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. In the United States, it received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film.

Contemporarily, the film is regarded as being part of the Australian New Wave of cinema. In 2018, it underwent restoration by the Australian National Sound and Film Archive, and was issued on Blu-ray and DVD by the Criterion Collection the following year.

Plot

In 1897 in rural Australia, Sybylla, a headstrong, free-spirited young woman, dreams of a better life to the detriment of helping run her family's country farm. Considered a larrikin by her family, Sybylla dreams of having a career in writing or the performing arts. Her parents, upset by her notions of grandeur and believing her to be stalling her life, inform Sybylla that they can no longer afford to keep her in the household. They send her to board with her wealthy maternal grandmother in hopes of teaching her socially accepted manners and behaviour.

Upon arriving, Sybylla swiftly feels out of place in her new environs. She is soon courted by two local men, jackaroo Frank Hawdon, whom she ignores, and well-to-do childhood friend Harry Beecham, of whom she grows increasingly fond. Sybylla is sent to spend time at the Beecham estate, and her feelings increase toward Harry. She returns to her grandmother's home when Harry is sent on a tour of their properties, with everyone on both estates coyly approving of their romance. Sybylla's Aunt Helen warns her against Harry's courtship, and advises that Sybylla marry for friendship rather than love.

Frank attempts to derail Harry and Sybylla's budding relationship by sparking rumours, which leads to increasing tensions between the two. Harry and Sybylla take turns attempting to make the other jealous at a ball, leading to Harry's surprise proposal. Sybylla gruffly rejects him, to everyone's surprise. Harry later reveals his rush was to protect Sybylla from his potential financial collapse. Sybylla counters by asking Harry to wait while she discovers herself, and asks him to delay his proposal for two years.

Sybylla is summoned by her grandmother, and is told she must take a job as governess and housekeeper to the indigent family of an illiterate neighbour to whom her father owes money. Working in squalor, she manages to teach the children to read using the newspapers and book pages wallpapering their home. To her delight, Sybylla is eventually sent home when the parents become incorrectly convinced that she is wooing their eldest son. Harry visits and proposes again, but Sybylla again rejects him, stating her intent to become a writer; she tenderly explains that a marriage between the two would be emotionally damaging.

Returning to her family's farm, Sybylla completes a manuscript of her first novel, My Brilliant Career, which she hopefully mails off to a Scottish publishing house.

Cast

Production

Development

Margaret Fink had purchased the rights to Miles Franklin's novel of the same name, and the Australian Film Development Corporation suggested she hire a writer to adapt it [3] and Fink selected Eleanor Witcombe. Gillian Armstrong met Fink while working as an assistant art director on the latter's The Removalists (1975) and Fink was impressed with her short film "A Hundred a Day". [3] She subsequently hired Armstrong to direct. [4] [5] [6] Greater Union invested $200,000 in the project, the NSW Film Corporation invested $450,000 with the balance coming from private investors. [1]

Armstrong brought in editor Ted Ogden to work on the script, which caused tension between her and Witcombe. For a time Witcombe threatened to take her name off the credits but ultimately decided not to. [1] [7] Commenting on her aspirations for the film, Armstrong said in 1979: "I wanted to make the statement that the heroine is a full woman who can develop her talents and have a career. I didn't want to reinforce the old stereotypes that a woman who has a career only does so only because she can't get a man." [8]

Casting

The role of Sybylla was cast in January 1978 but when the actress was tested in costume it was felt she was wrong for the role. [1] Judy Davis was cast instead; it was her first leading role. [1]

Filming

Principal photography of My Brilliant Career took place over eight weeks in October and November 1978 in the Monaro region of New South Wales. [9] Some scenes were shot at the Ryrie homestead at Michelago, New South Wales with Camden Park Estate featuring as Harry Beecham's 'Five Bob Downs' property. [10] The film's theme music was an arrangement from "Of Foreign Lands and People" from Robert Schumann's Kinderszenen . [11] Davis plays her on-screen piano part herself. [1] Other pieces of classical music used in the film include arrangements of "Träumerei" from Kinderszenen, and of the Piano Quartet in E minor by Schumann. [11]

Release

U.S. theatrical advertisement, 1980 My Brilliant Career ad - 15 February 1980.jpg
U.S. theatrical advertisement, 1980

My Brilliant Career was shown at the Cannes Film Festival in 1979 [12] and received a warm reception. [1] The film had its international debut in New York City at the New York Film Festival on 1 February 1980, followed by a release in Japan on 2 January 1982, and in Poland on 23 July 2007 at Era New Horizons Film Festival.

Box office

My Brilliant Career grossed $3,052,000 at the box office in Australia. [13]

Critical response

Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times lauded the film for its "resolute and courageous ending," also deeming it "beautifully written, photographed, directed, and acted." [14] The New York Times ' Janet Maslin also praised the film, noting in her review: "My Brilliant Career doesn't need to trumpet either its or its heroine's originality this loudly. The facts speak for themselves—and so does the radiance with which Miss Armstrong and Miss Davis invest so many memorable moments." [15] William Mootz of the Courier Journal wrote "It's a beautiful film, handsomely photographed, faultlessly directed, and magically acted. If you've been dismayed by the sometimes glib, often trashy, and frequently just plain inept stuff that has gorged the screen in recent months, My Brilliant Career may well restore your faith." [16]

It has an 86% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 21 reviews. [17]

Accolades

AwardCategoryRecipientResultRef.
AACTA Awards
(1979 AFI Awards)
Best Film Margaret Fink Won [18]
Best Direction Gillian Armstrong Won
Best Adapted Screenplay Eleanor Witcombe Won
Best Actress Judy Davis Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Robert Grubb Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Aileen Britton Nominated
Patricia Kennedy Nominated
Wendy Hughes Nominated
Best Cinematography Donald McAlpine Won
Best Editing Nicholas BeaumanNominated
Best Production Design Luciana Arrighi Won
Best Costume Design Anna Senior Won
Academy Awards Best Costume Design Nominated
ACS Award Cinematographer of the YearDonald McAlpineWon
BAFTA Awards Best Actress Judy DavisWon
Most Outstanding Newcomer to Leading Film RolesWon
Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or Gillian ArmstrongNominated [19]
Golden Globe Awards Best Foreign Film My Brilliant CareerNominated
Kansas City Film Critics CircleKCFCC Award for Best Foreign FilmWon
London Film Critics' Circle Special Achievement AwardGillian ArmstrongWon

Home media

Blue Underground released My Brilliant Career in a two-disc special edition DVD in 2005. [20] A Blu-ray edition was subsequently issued by Blue Underground in 2009. [21]

In 2018, the Australian National Film and Sound Archive restored the film, [10] and this restoration was subsequently issued on DVD and Blu-ray in 2019 by the U.S. home media company the Criterion Collection. [22]

Legacy

My Brilliant Career has been noted by film historians as a part of the Australian New Wave of cinema. [23] In a retrospective essay celebrating the film's inclusion in the Criterion Collection, film scholar Carrie Rickey notes that both the film and its source novel have "become part of Australian identity." [24]

Though Judy Davis received critical acclaim for her performance, director Gillian Armstrong stated that Davis was never fond of the film [3] and disliked her character. [25]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Howards End</i> (film) 1992 film

Howards End is a 1992 historical romantic drama film directed by James Ivory, from a screenplay written by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala based on the 1910 novel by E. M. Forster. Marking Merchant Ivory Productions' third adaptation of a Forster novel, it was the first film to be released by Sony Pictures Classics. The film's narrative explores class relations in turn-of-the-20th-century Britain, through events in the lives of the Schlegel sisters. The film starred Emma Thompson, Anthony Hopkins, Helena Bonham Carter and Vanessa Redgrave, with James Wilby, Samuel West, Jemma Redgrave and Prunella Scales in supporting roles.

<i>My Brilliant Career</i> 1901 novel by Miles Franklin

My Brilliant Career is a 1901 novel written by Miles Franklin. It is the first of many novels by Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin (1879–1954), one of the major Australian writers of her time.

<i>Paris, Texas</i> (film) 1984 film by Wim Wenders

Paris, Texas is a 1984 neo-Western drama road film directed by Wim Wenders, co-written by Sam Shepard and L. M. Kit Carson, and produced by Don Guest. It stars Harry Dean Stanton, Nastassja Kinski, Dean Stockwell, Aurore Clément, and Hunter Carson. In the film, disheveled recluse Travis Henderson (Stanton) reunites with his brother Walt (Stockwell) and son Hunter (Carson). Travis and Hunter embark on a trip through the American Southwest to track down Travis's missing wife, Jane (Kinski).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judy Davis</span> Australian film, television, and stage actress (born 1955)

Judith Davis is an Australian actress. In a career spanning over four decades of both screen and stage, she has been commended for her versatility and regarded as one of the finest actresses of her generation. Frequent collaborator Woody Allen described her as "one of the most exciting actresses in the world". Davis has received numerous accolades, including nine AACTA Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards.

<i>Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me</i> 1992 film by David Lynch

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me is a 1992 psychological horror film directed by David Lynch, and co-written by Lynch and Robert Engels. It serves as a prequel to the television series Twin Peaks (1990–1991), created and produced by Mark Frost and Lynch. It revolves around the investigation into the murder of Teresa Banks and the last seven days in the life of Laura Palmer, a popular high school student in the fictional Washington town of Twin Peaks. Unlike the series, which was an uncanny blend of detective fiction, horror, the supernatural, offbeat humor, and soap opera tropes, Fire Walk with Me has a much darker, less humorous tone.

<i>Little Women</i> (1994 film) 1994 film by Gillian Armstrong

Little Women is a 1994 American coming-of-age historical drama film directed by Gillian Armstrong. The screenplay by Robin Swicord is based on Louisa May Alcott's 1868–69 two-volume novel of the same title, the fifth feature film adaptation of the classic story. After a limited release on December 25, 1994, it was released nationwide four days later by Columbia Pictures.

<i>The Tales of Hoffmann</i> (1951 film) 1951 film directed by Emeric Pressburger & Michael Powell

The Tales of Hoffmann is a 1951 British Technicolor comic opera film written, produced and directed by the team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger working under the umbrella of their production company The Archers. It is an adaptation of Jacques Offenbach's 1881 opera The Tales of Hoffmann, itself based on three short stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gillian Armstrong</span> Australian film director (born 1950)

Gillian May Armstrong is an Australian feature film and documentary director, best known for My Brilliant Career (1979), Mrs. Soffel (1984), High Tide (1987), The Last Days of Chez Nous (1992), and Little Women (1994). She is a Member of the Order of Australia. She has won many film awards, including an AFI Best Director Award, has been nominated for numerous others, and is the holder of several honorary doctorates.

<i>Lola</i> (1981 film) 1981 West Germany film

Lola is a 1981 West German drama film directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, the third in his BRD Trilogy, preceded by The Marriage of Maria Braun (1978) and Veronika Voss (1982). It is a loose adaptation of Heinrich Mann's Professor Unrat (1905), which had previously been adapted for Josef von Sternberg's The Blue Angel (1930).

<i>A Touch of Zen</i> 1971 wuxia film by King Wu

A Touch of Zen is a two-part wuxia film written, co-edited and directed by King Hu, originally released in 1970 and 1971. Its screenplay is based on a classic Chinese story "Xianü" in the book Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio by Pu Songling. The film is set in the Ming dynasty under the dominance of eunuchs and explores a variety of themes including the transcendence of dichotomies, Zen Buddhism, feminism, conservative female roles, and the ghost story.

<i>Wise Blood</i> (film) 1979 film by John Huston

Wise Blood is a 1979 black comedy drama film directed by John Huston and starring Brad Dourif, Dan Shor, Amy Wright, Harry Dean Stanton, and Ned Beatty. It is based on the 1952 novel Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor. As a co-production with Germany the film was titled Der Ketzer or Die Weisheit des Blutes when released in Germany, and Le Malin when released in France.

<i>Starstruck</i> (1982 film) 1982 Australian film

Starstruck is a 1982 Australian comedy-drama musical film directed by Gillian Armstrong and starring Jo Kennedy, Ross O'Donovan and Margo Lee. The plot concerns two teenagers trying to break into the music industry. The film was shot on location in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was marketed with the tagline "A Comedy Musical." The hotel shots were filmed at the Harbour View Hotel in The Rocks, near the south pylon of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

<i>Sweetie</i> (1989 film) Film by Jane Campion

Sweetie is a 1989 Australian black comedy drama film directed by Jane Campion, and starring Genevieve Lemon, Karen Colston, Tom Lycos, and Jon Darling. Co-written by Campion and Gerard Lee, the film documents the contentious and chaotic relationships among a woman in her twenties, her parents, and her emotionally unstable sister. It was Jane Campion's first feature film. It was entered into the 1989 Cannes Film Festival, and won an Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film in 1991.

Laura Jones is an Australian screenwriter.

Margaret Fink is an Australian film producer, noted for her important role in the revival of Australian cinema in the early 1970s.

<i>High Tide</i> (1987 film) 1987 Australian film

High Tide is a 1987 Australian drama film starring Judy Davis, from a script by Laura Jones, about the mother-daughter bond, directed by Gillian Armstrong. Armstrong reported that when she began work on High Tide she pinned a note above her desk: "Blood ties. Water. Running Away." Jan Adele plays Lilli's mother-in-law Bet, in her film debut.

<i>Elvira Madigan</i> (1967 film) 1967 Swedish film

Elvira Madigan is a 1967 Swedish romantic drama film directed by Bo Widerberg and starring Pia Degermark and Thommy Berggren. It is based on the tragedy of the Danish slackrope dancer Hedvig Jensen, working under the stage name of Elvira Madigan at her stepfather's travelling circus, and her romance with Swedish nobleman lieutenant Sixten Sparre.

Eleanor Katrine Witcombe was an Australian screenwriter and playwright who worked extensively in radio, film and television.

<i>Nitram</i> 2021 film by Justin Kurzel

Nitram is a 2021 Australian biographical psychological drama film directed by Justin Kurzel from a screenplay by Shaun Grant. The film revolves around the life and behaviors of a mentally distressed young man called "Nitram", and the events leading to his involvement in the 1996 Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania. The film stars Caleb Landry Jones, Judy Davis, Essie Davis and Anthony LaPaglia.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Stratton 1980, pp. 217–220.
  2. Donahue, Suzanne Mary (1987). American film distribution : the changing marketplace. UMI Research Press. p. 302. ISBN   978-0-8357-1776-2. Please note figures are for rentals in US and Canada
  3. 1 2 3 An Interview with Gillian Armstrong (Blu-ray interview short). The Criterion Collection. 2019.
  4. Peter Beilby & Scott Murray, "Margaret Fink", Cinema Papers , March–April 1979, pp. 288–290
  5. Peter Beilby & Scott Murray, "Gillian Armstrong", Cinema Papers, March–April 1979, pp. 291–293
  6. ""My Brilliant Career" acclaimed film for Canberra". The Canberra Times . 29 September 1979. p. 18. Retrieved 20 September 2018 via Trove.
  7. Sams, Christine; Maddox, Garry (13 May 2007). "Filmmakers brawl over Australian classic". The Sydney Morning Herald . Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  8. Manning, Peter (7 October 1979). "Director Launched on Brilliant Career of Her Own". The Sydney Morning Herald . Sydney, New South Wales. p. 49 via Newspapers.com.
  9. Brian McFarlane, "My Brilliant Career", Australian Film 1978–1992, Oxford University Press, p. 43
  10. 1 2 Blackshaw, Adam (8 June 2018). "NFSA Restores: My Brilliant Career". National Film and Sound Archive . Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  11. 1 2 "My Brilliant Career – music credits", ozmovies.com.au
  12. "A hard flog at Cannes". The Age . Melbourne, Victoria. 17 May 1979. p. 9 via Newspapers.com.
  13. "Film Victoria – Australian Films at the Australian Box Office" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 February 2011. Retrieved 22 November 2010.
  14. Champlin, Charles (27 April 1980). "Down Under Film Comes Out on Top". Los Angeles Times . Los Angeles, California. p. 29 via Newspapers.com.
  15. Maslin, Janet (6 October 1979). "Film: Australian Brilliant Career by Gillian Armstrong: The Cast". The New York Times . Archived from the original on 20 September 2018.
  16. Mootz, William (9 October 1980). "'My Brilliant Career': Magic on the screen". Courier Journal . p. 35.
  17. "My Brilliant Career (1979)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  18. "Career wins film awards". The Canberra Times . 13 October 1979. p. 18. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  19. "Festival de Cannes: My Brilliant Career". festival-cannes.com. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  20. Erickson, Glenn (31 May 2005). "DVD Savant Review: My Brilliant Career". DVD Talk . Archived from the original on 14 January 2020.
  21. Erickson, Glenn (17 November 2009). "DVD Savant Blu-ray Review: My Brilliant Career". DVD Talk . Archived from the original on 14 January 2020.
  22. Lopez, Kristen (6 May 2019). "Forty Years of Appreciating My Brilliant Career". Forbes . Archived from the original on 6 May 2019.
  23. Connolly, Keith (15 February 1981). "Australia's Pride is its New Wave of Films". The New York Times . New York City, New York. Archived from the original on 30 January 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  24. Rickey, Carrie (2 May 2019). "My Brilliant Career: Unapologetic Women". The Current. The Criterion Collection. Archived from the original on 14 January 2020.
  25. Tobias, Scott (7 June 2005). "My Brilliant Career". The A.V. Club . Archived from the original on 22 November 2019.

Sources