The Eye of the Storm | |
---|---|
Directed by | Fred Schepisi |
Screenplay by | Judy Morris |
Based on | The Eye of the Storm by Patrick White |
Produced by | Gregory J. Read Antony Waddington |
Starring | Geoffrey Rush Charlotte Rampling Judy Davis |
Cinematography | Ian Baker |
Edited by | Kate Williams |
Music by | Paul Grabowsky |
Distributed by | Transmission |
Release date |
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Running time | 119 minutes |
Country | Australia |
Language | English |
The Eye of the Storm is a 2011 Australian drama film directed by Fred Schepisi. It is an adaptation of Patrick White's 1973 novel of the same name. It stars Geoffrey Rush, Charlotte Rampling and Judy Davis. It won the critics award for best Australian feature at the 2011 Melbourne International Film Festival [1] [2] and had a September 2011 theatrical release. [3]
In a Sydney suburb, two nurses, a housekeeper and a solicitor attend to Elizabeth Hunter as her expatriate son and daughter convene at her deathbed. In dying, as in living, Mrs. Hunter remains a formidable force on those around her. It is via Mrs Hunter’s authority over living that her household and children vicariously face death and struggle to give consequence to life.
Estranged from a mother who was never capable of loving them Sir Basil, a famous but struggling actor in London and Dorothy, an impecunious French princess, attempt to reconcile with her. In doing so they are reduced from states of worldly sophistication to floundering life.
The children unite in a common goal — to leave Australia with their vast inheritance. Moving through Sydney’s social scene, they search for a way to fulfill their desire. Using the reluctant services of their family lawyer Arnold Wyburd, who was long in love with Mrs Hunter, they scheme to place their mother in a society nursing home to expedite her demise.
Panic sets in as the staff sense the impending end of their eccentric world. Mrs Hunter confesses her profound disappointment at failing to recreate the state of humility and grace she experienced when caught in the eye of a cyclone fifteen years earlier.
For the first time in their lives, the meaning of compassion takes the children by surprise. During a ferocious storm Mrs Hunter finally dies, not through a withdrawal of will but by an assertion of it. In the process of dying she re-lives her experience in the cyclone. Standing on a beach, she is calm and serene as devastation surrounds her.
Ceremony | Recipient | Category | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2011 Asia Pacific Screen Awards | Judy Davis | Best Performance by an Actress | Nominated |
AACTA Awards [5] (1st) | Antony Waddington Gregory J. Read Fred Schepisi | Best Film | Nominated |
Fred Schepisi | Best Direction | Nominated | |
Judy Morris | Best Adapted Screenplay | Nominated | |
Geoffrey Rush | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Nominated | |
Judy Davis | Best Actress in a Leading Role | Won | |
Charlotte Rampling | Nominated | ||
John Gaden | Best Actor in a Supporting Role | Nominated | |
Helen Morse | Best Actress in a Supporting Role | Nominated | |
Antony Waddington Gregory J. Read Fred Schepisi | AFI Members' Choice Award | Nominated | |
Melinda Doring | Best Production Design | Won | |
Terry Ryan | Best Costume Design | Won | |
2011 Inside Film Awards [6] [7] | Antony Waddington Gregory J. Read Fred Schepisi | Best Feature Film | Nominated |
Geoffrey Rush | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Nominated | |
Judy Davis | Best Actress in a Leading Role | Nominated | |
Melbourne International Film Festival | The Age Critics' Award for Best Australian Feature Film | Won | |
Rome International Film Festival | Jury Special Prize | Won |
Geoffrey Roy Rush is an Australian actor. Known for often playing eccentric roles on both stage and screen, he has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Tony Award, making him the only Australian to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting, in addition to three BAFTA Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. Rush is the founding president of the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts and was named the 2012 Australian of the Year.
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.
Tessa Charlotte Rampling is an English actress. An icon of the Swinging Sixties, she began her career as a model. She was cast in the role of Meredith in the 1966 film Georgy Girl, which starred Lynn Redgrave. She soon began making French and Italian arthouse films, notably Luchino Visconti's The Damned (1969) and Liliana Cavani's The Night Porter (1974). She went on to star in many European and English-language films, including Stardust Memories (1980), The Verdict (1982), Long Live Life (1984), and The Wings of the Dove (1997). In the 2000s, she became the muse of French director François Ozon, appearing in several of his films, notably Swimming Pool (2003) and Young & Beautiful (2013). On television, she is known for her role as Dr. Evelyn Vogel in Dexter (2013).
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Dorothy was breathless with resentment for what she herself could no more than half-remember, had perhaps only half discovered - on the banks of the Seine? in dreams? as part of that greatest of all obsessions, childhood? and how could Elizabeth Hunter have got possession of anything so secret? Only Mother was capable of slicing in half what amounted to psyche, then expecting the rightful owner to share.
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