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Shine

1996

Scott Hicks

Geoffrey Rush, Armin Mueller-Stahl, John Gielgud, Noah Taylor ...

7.3

10,341

Drama Based on the true story of Australian pianist David Helfgott, this delightful movie charts the early and traumatic early years. Telling the story in flashback we see David as he grows up and into a child prodigy while his father abuses him and his siblings with the memory of his childhood in Europe and the loss of his family in the concentration camps. David finally breaks away from his father and goes away to study overseas, he later ... [+]

	Media	Author	Review
		Janet Maslin The New York Times	"Hicks's direction has an elegance and dignity that rescue 'Shine' from the exploitative and give the film an acute, genuinely sensitive style"
		David Stratton Variety	"Top-notch performances (...) 'Shine' is mature, intelligent filmmaking that stands an excellent chance of appealing to arthouse audiences the world over."
		Luke Buckmaster The Guardian	"There are films we see and films we remember. Few leave as lasting an impression as this 1996 biopic (...) A powerful, tender-hearted success"
		Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"The fact that David Helfgott lived the outlines of these events--that he triumphed, that he fell, that he came slowly back--adds an enormous weight of meaning to the film (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"
		David Parkinson Radio Times	"An exhilarating and uplifting screen experience (...) It's the cinematic acumen of director Scott Hicks that prevents this often harrowing story from turning into melodramatic mush (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Caroline Westbrook Empire	"Faultless performances from all the cast help deliver a film of humour and warmth (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Lisa Schwarzbaum Entertainment Weekly	"'Shine' beams with warmth, sensitivity, and fine taste"
		Marjorie Baumgarten Austin Chronicle	"The movie is wonderfully constructed. The viewer is swept along by the drama of David's life story (...) Contributing enormously to the success of the movie are its awesome performances (…) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 5)"

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