The Getting of Wisdom (film)

Last updated

The Getting of Wisdom
The Getting of Wisdom FilmPoster.jpeg
Directed by Bruce Beresford
Written by Eleanor Witcombe
Based on The Getting of Wisdom
by Henry Handel Richardson
Produced by Phillip Adams
Starring Susannah Fowle
Hilary Ryan
Barry Humphries
Cinematography Donald McAlpine
Edited by William M. Anderson
Production
company
Southern Cross Films
Distributed byRoadshow
Release date
  • 5 August 1977 (1977-08-05)
Running time
101 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
BudgetA$525,000 [1] or $500,000 [2]
Box officeA$982,000

The Getting of Wisdom is a 1977 [3] Australian film directed by Bruce Beresford and based on the 1910 novel of the same title by Henry Handel Richardson. It is regarded as being part of the Australian New Wave of cinema.

Contents

The film is set in 1890s Victoria, when Laura (Susannah Fowle) enters an exclusive Melbourne ladies' college based on Presbyterian Ladies' College. The film follows her struggle for acceptance, conformity, romance, friendship and achievement over the next four years. Lesbian overtones between a schoolgirl and a music teacher are made explicit in the film, more so than in Richardson's novel.

It also starred Barry Humphries, John Waters and Terence Donovan, and featured early career appearances by Kerry Armstrong, Sigrid Thornton, Noni Hazlehurst, Maggie Kirkpatrick and Julia Blake.

A musical theme runs through the story, with piano works by Beethoven, Schubert and Thalberg played by Sarah Grunstein.

Plot

Laura Rambotham is sent to attend boarding school in Melbourne, Australia at the turn of the century. During her second year she tells everyone about a made-up romance between herself and the school's minister, Reverend Shepherd. She forms an attachment with an older student in her music class, Evelyn. When Evelyn leaves, Laura throws herself into her studies and wins the school literary and music prizes.

Cast

Production

Bruce Beresford wanted to make the film after The Adventures of Barry McKenzie (1972) and tried to get finance from Reg Grundy. Grundy said he would think about it if Beresford made a McKenzie sequel. Beresford made Barry McKenzie Holds His Own (1974) but Grundy declined to make Wisdom. [4]

The film was the first production from the newly formed Victorian Film Corporation, which provided $100,000 with additional funding from the Australian Film Commission and the Nine Network. Six thousand girls were interviewed for the school pupil roles. It was shot at Methodist Ladies' College and in the town of Eddington in January and February 1977. [1]

Production crew

Music

Sarah Grunstein commented on her approach to playing the piano works featured in the film: "I read the book, loved it, and tried to play like an adolescent girl whose performances reflected her experiences in new surroundings at a boarding school away from home." [5]

Release

The Getting of Wisdom was released in Australia on 5 August 1977 [6] and on 3 August 1980 in the United States. [7]

Box office

The Getting of Wisdom grossed $982,000 at the box office in Australia, [8] which is equivalent to $4,517,200 in 2009 dollars.

Reception

Richard Freedman of The Star-Ledger called it a "quietly powerful film" which is "superbly acted by all involved, and directed with the utmost sensitivity." Freedman also noted that the film "is slow-paced, in the Australian fashion, but for all its hermetic Victorian atmosphere it packs more authentic emotional punch than many a flashier, splashier movie." [9]

John Furcolow of the Lexington Herald-Leader wrote: "The Getting of Wisdom is another in what has fast become a long line of high-quality films from Australia that have appeared in this country the last three or four years ... The result is not a great film, but a good solid piece of dramatic entertainment. The newness and the fresh point of view of Australian films has begun to wear off, leaving these stories standing on their own as films. The Getting of Wisdom is on sturdy ground indeed." [10]

Awards

The Getting of Wisdom was nominated for five AFI Awards in 1978 and won in the Best Adapted Screenplay (Eleanor Witcombe) category.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998 p316-317
  2. Souter, Gavin. "Australian film, makers take on all comers". 4 December 1976. p. 8.
  3. Hal Erickson The Getting of Wisdom (1977) Review summary in The New York Times ,
  4. David Stratton, The Last New Wave: The Australian Film Revival, Angus & Robertson, 1980 p46
  5. Neill, Kristine (30 June 1979). "Pianist at work". The Sydney Morning Herald . p. 16.
  6. Chalmers, Gillian (3 August 1977). "Film Review: The Getting of Wisdom". The Australian Women's Weekly . p. 36.
  7. "Film releases". Daily News [ disambiguation needed ]. 2 August 1980. p. 128.
  8. "Film Victoria – Australian Films at the Australian Box Office" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 February 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2010.
  9. Freedman, Richard (7 August 1980). "Another Aussie winner in 'Wisdom'". The Star-Ledger . p. 45.
  10. Furcolow, John (1 May 1981). "'Wisom' Reflects Australia's Adolescence". Lexington Herald-Leader . p. 33.

Further reading