My brilliant career

Movie
German title	My brilliant career
Original title	My Brilliant Career
Country of production	Australia
original language	English
Publishing year	1979
length	96 minutes
Age rating	FSK 6
Rod
Director	Gillian Armstrong
script	Eleanor Witcombe based ; on a novel by ; Miles Franklin
production	Margaret Fink
music	Nathan Waks
camera	Donald M. McAlpine
cut	Nicholas Beauman
occupation
	Judy Davis : Sybylla Melvyn; Sam Neill : Harry Beecham ; - German voice: Hans-Georg Panczak - ; Wendy Hughes : Aunt Helen; Robert Grubb : Frank Hawdon; Max Cullen : Mr. McSwatt; Patricia Kennedy : Aunt Gussie; Aileen Britton : Grandmother Bossier ; - German voice: Eleonore Noelle - ; Peter Whitford : Uncle Julius; Alan Hopgood : Father; Julia Blake : mother; David Franklin : Horace; Marion Shad : Gertie; Aaron Wood : Stanley; Sue Davies : Aurora; Gordon Piper : Barman;

My Brilliant Career (Original Title: My Brilliant Career ) is a 1979 Australian drama film directed by Gillian Armstrong . Judy Davis plays a young woman in Australia in the early 20th century who has to choose between marriage and independence. She decides to make her dream of becoming a writer come true. Sam Neill embodies the man she wants to marry.

The script is based on Miles Franklin 's first semi-biographical novel, which she wrote at the age of 20 and which was published in 1901.

action

Sybylla Melvyn, daughter of an impoverished farmer, would like to stand on her own two feet and realize her dream of becoming a writer. She has to fight against the prevailing conventions at the beginning of the 20th century, which foresee a marriage or a serving profession for women. However, her career plans do not stop Sybylla from taking a job as a housekeeper with a neighbor to whom her father owes money.

Sybylla temporarily lives with her grandmother and her aunt Helen Bossier, who, to their dismay, lets them know that she will never get married, but that she has completely different plans. The pretty, self-confident woman arouses the interest of numerous men. The clumsy Englishman Frank Hawdon, who has been in Australia for three months, wants her to accompany him back to his homeland as his wife. The handsome large landowner Harry Beecham also shows great interest in Sybylla and she is also attracted to him. Ultimately, Sybylla does not give up her dream, she does not marry Beecham, and makes her dream of a career as a writer come true by writing a book.

Production and Background

The film was shot in Camden Park House, Wollondilly Shire , Menangle district in New South Wales , a state in southeast Australia. The production company was New Youth Wales Film Corporation / GUO / Analysis, Margaret Fink Productions.

Miles Franklin wrote several novels and published a sequel to the story in 1946 under the title My Career Goes Bung . However, My Brilliant Career remained her most successful and popular book.

The film was very successful in Australia, even though it was rejected three times by the Australian Film Development Corporation. The corporation believed the film would fail at the box office because there was no such thing as a happy ending. Fink and Armstrong had refused to give in. Part of the success is attributed to Davis' "wonderful performance" in her role. Judy Davis was 24 years old at the time of shooting and had just graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney . With her wild red hair and freckles and pale complexion, Davis is a beautiful Sybylla. Judy Davis played the piano solos herself, for example she practices Robert Schumann 's scenes from children on the piano .

The film was presented at the Cannes Film Festival in France in May 1979 . In Australia it was launched on August 17, 1979 under the original title My Brilliant Career . In the United States it was first shown on October 6, 1979 at the New York Film Festival . On February 1, 1980, it ran in selected cinemas in the USA. In the Federal Republic of Germany , the film was not shown in cinemas, but was first broadcast under the title My brilliant career on November 14, 1980 on ZDF . On November 28, 1989, the film was released on video in a German dubbed version.

more publishments

Sweden: February 15, 1980 under the title Min lysande karriär
Italy: April 18, 1980 under the title La mia brillante carriera
Netherlands: February 19, 1981
Denmark: July 24, 1981 under the title Min brilliant career
Japan: January 2nd, 1982, also screened there on October 13th, 2006 within the Australian Film Festival.
Hungary: November 22, 1984 under the title Ragyogó karrierem
Poland: July 23, 2007 under the title Moja blyskotliwa kariera on the occasion of the Nowe Horyzonty Film Festival.
Argentina under the title Mi brilliant carrera
Brazil under the title As Quatro Irmãs
Finland under the title Loistava urani
Serbia under the title Moja briljantna karijera
Soviet Union (Russian title) Моя блестящая карьера

criticism

Stephanie Zacharek spoke of the fact that the film version of the then revolutionary novel by Miles Franklin, published in 1901, was "still revolutionary in its calm manner" in 1979 in the film version. It is rare that films, Australian or other, are held almost exclusively by women in key positions. The critic Gary Gouzens also pointed out that the film was not only directed and produced by a woman, the template and the script came from a woman and other important positions were occupied by women. Donald McAlpine's “excellent camera work” was also praised. My Brilliant Career is a film about exploring the possibilities that life offers instead of just letting life happen.

Janet Maslin wrote in the New York Times that Judy Davis had an unconventional way of playing the scenes and that her vitality was invigorating. Her Sybylla is on the one hand a playful being, on the other hand she creates a happy chaos wherever she is. Maslin also believed that one of the film's strengths was its liveliness. McAlpine also captured an eye for the picture and the rugged beauty of the landscape very well.

The lexicon of international films assessed the film extremely positively and wrote: "Sensitive description of a self-discovery, brilliantly played and superbly photographed, coherent in the atmosphere as well as the description of the milieu."

Awards

Australian Film Institute AFI Award

1979: Winner: "Best Film" categories : Margaret Fink, "Best Director": Gillian Armstrong, "Best Adapted Screenplay": Eleanor Witcombe, "Best Product Design": Luciana Arrighi, "Best Costume Design": Anna Senior, " Best Cinematography: Donald McAlpine
1979: Nominees: "Best Leading Role" categories : Judy Davis, "Best Supporting Roles": Aileen Hughes, Wendy Hughes, Patricia Kennedy, Robert Grubb