Sybylla, a headstrong girl growing up in early 20th century australia, has the opportunity of marriage to a wealthy young man whom she loves, but rejects it in order to maintain her independence, preferring to take a job as governesshousekeeper to the family of an illiterate neighbor to whom her father owes money. My brilliant career quotes showing 19 of 9 our greatest hearttreasure is a knowledge that there is in creation an individual to whom our existence is necessary some one who is part of our life as we are part of theirs, some one in whose life we feel assured our death would leave a gap for a day or two. My brilliant career is the story of sybylla, a headstrong young girl growing up in early 20th century australia. It is a powerful rumination on atavistic australia, sexism and classism, and a sensitive portrait of a woman destined to think outside the box. Wood, gaby, my brilliant career down under in film and feminism, in new statesman london, 27 march 1998. Dear fellow countrymen, just a few lines to let you know that this story is going to be all about me.
The delightful australian film my brilliant career shortcuts the political fingerpointing to take up the story of a plain jane of the outback who has the temerity to resist the limited course society sets for her. She has dreams of being a great writer, dreams that do not impress. The passionate intensity of my brilliant career is both its principal weakness and its greatest strength. The film charts the developing selfawareness of sybylla melvyn judy davis as. Sybyllas artistic aspirations keep the film relevant and broadly accessible. Financial analysis of my brilliant career 1980 including budget, domestic and international box office gross, dvd and bluray sales reports, total earnings and profitability.
Sybyllas longing for fiction and for the romance that comes in narratives and music is expressed in the frequent mention of books. My brilliant career was the first film i saw when i moved to berkeley in 1980 to become a filmmaker, and it was certainly an inspiration. To be able to bring such characters to life and, more importantly to the screen, gave me hope that the art of cinema was still alive and well, despite the massive changes brought about in this country by. It was distributed by analysis film releasing corp. So, in answer to many requests, here is the story of my career. Actrices et acteurs my brilliant career 1979 my brilliant career, casting du film. Forced by money problems to move in with her rich grandmother aileen britton, she soon makes the acquaintance of a handsome landowner, harry sam neill, and wins him over despite their class differences. Gillian armstrongs film of my brilliant career dramatises this lust for print in the scene in which sybylla and her young pupils energetically track a serialised story across the newspapered interior walls of the house. My brilliant career marks the beginning of exactly that for both the films daring, assured, highspirited australian director, gillian armstrong.
One of the key films of the australian new wave of the 1970s, my brilliant career represented breakthroughs for both director gillian armstrong and star judy davis. My brilliant friend official website for the hbo series. Aug 20, 2007 i first saw my brilliant career in a literaturefilm grad class and came to enjoy it through the shared student experience of both studying the characters as well as the various filming techniques used. Give a detailed analysis of a key scene or passage from my brilliant career by miles franklin.
Sybylla melvyn judy davis is a headstrong young woman growing up in australia near the end of the 19th century. My brilliant career contains hope for all women, putting us in tune with our own abilities and confidence to fight the constructs of male domination. The film adaptation of my brilliant career 1979 was the first feature directed by gillian armstrong, who would go on to be one of australias preeminent directors. Essay on miles franklins my brilliant career 1284 words. Also sign me up for fanmail to get updates on all things movies. It is a powerful rumination on atavistic australia, sexism and classism, and a. During the 1970s the renaissance of australian movies was occurring and my brilliant career is seen as an important movie from this period. She wrote it at just sixteen and was unprepared for the great amount of success the novel found. My brilliant career is a 1979 australian period drama film directed by gillian armstrong, and.
My brilliant career is an australian film featuring the acting debut of judy davis and the directing debut of gillian armstrong. My brilliant career is a near perfect film exploring the efforts of an independentminded farm girl to fulfill her dream of becoming a writer. My brilliant career 1979 a young independent woman who lives with her grandmother and aunt in the countryside rebels against being pressured into marriage and chooses to solely focus on having a career as a writer. Its hard to believe this is the same story as the film brought out quite a few years back. My brilliant career movie trailer blue underground youtube. Reading australia my brilliant career miles franklin. When harry proposes, sybylla must choose between romantic love an the brilliant career she craves. Enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing my brilliant career near you. All other passengers had been in some time and were asleep. Our first overtly profeminist american films from a few years earlier tended toward worstcase scenarios like diary of a mad housewife. Sybylla rejects the opportunity to marry a wealthy young. She, instead, wants to have a career, a brilliant career as she imagines it, as a writer. Brilliant careers the latest nfsa restores premiere is particularly timely given the current media attention on the representation of women in the film industry.
Jun, 2018 the nfsa restoration of my brilliant career premieres at the sydney film festival on june 2018 at 6. Long unavailable in america, my brilliant career has been fully restored and remastered in high definition from the original negative, under the supervision of academy award nominated director of. Although the novel descends into melodrama, the authenticity of its young authors voice. The fact that shes an outspoken plain jane is a major liability in the eyes of the upper class matriarchs that try to whip her. Suffused with generous humor and a youthful appetite for experience, my brilliant career is a luminous portrait of an ardently free spirit. My brilliant career for her awardwinning breakthrough film, director gillian armstrong drew on teenage author miles franklins novel, a celebrated turnofthetwentiethcentury australian comingofage story, to brashly upend the conventions of period romance. My brilliant career, the story of a womans maturation in the australian outback around the turn of the twentieth century, is essentially a feminist novel that is well ahead of its time. My brilliant career is a lovely film about understanding yourself and reaching out for what you truly want. My brilliant career marks the beginning of exactly that for both the film s daring, assured, highspirited australian director, gillian armstrong, and its rambunctious young star. The construction of the female characters in the book text of my brilliant career was different from their representation in the movie text. A criticallyacclaimed australian masterpiece, my brilliant career is a delicate parable of one womans fight for independence, and the sacrifices.
In this episode of observations on film art, professor jeff smith explores how armstrong. Sybylla rejects the opportunity to marry a wealthy young man in order to maintain her independence. My brilliant career was a coming of age story based on the miles franklin. The movie ending completes the suggestion, made at the begining, that this entire screenplay is based on her first book, as we see her putting the manuscript in a mailbox in front of her parents ramshacle house.
My brilliant career can be read as a kind of response to the story, or writing, of the grandmother, or at least the sort of romance plot represented by the grandmother australian and perhaps british women romance writers such as ada cambridge. In the book we are exposed to the narrators biassed view of the relevant characters, while in the movie, despite sybilla still acting as narrator, we are presented with a more general characterization of women in turnofthecentury australia. Sybylla melvyn, the protagonist, notes the unfairness of the patriarchy around her. The story was influenced by the experiences of its author miles franklin born stella franklin, who grew up in the area. A suggestion that this movie is the story of her brilliant career or how it got its start anyway. Write an essay on how well the film my brilliant career depicts these ideas. My brilliant career addresses not only youthful alienation but issues of gender as well.
Judy davis, sam neill, wendy hughes, robert grubb, max cullen, aileen britton, peter whitford, patricia kennedy, alan hopgood, julia blake, david franklin, marion shad, aaron wood, sue davies, gordon piper et. My brilliant career is a period drama adapted from the 1901 novel by miles franklin stella franklin, a prominent australian author of the time. The story is based on a 1901 autobiographical novel by 16yearold miles franklin which chronicles the efforts of an independentminded farm girl to fulfill her dream of becoming a writer. Jul 31, 2009 long unavailable in america, my brilliant career has been fully restored and remastered in high definition from the original negative, under the supervision of academy award nominated director of. The acclaimed debut of judy davis is the best reason to see my brilliant career, and the awardwinning film is highly recommended as the feature debut of director gillian armstrong. Gender stereotypes in my brilliant career and jindabyne essay. Apparently miles franklin wrote it under a pseudonym when she was 16 years old and it was immediately successful but she refused a reprint and it was not republished for many years and i cant help wondering if the book was not refined during that time. Jun 27, 2012 what makes my brilliant career different from pride and prejudice and virtually every hollywood romance since is that at the end of the film sybylla gets her man but she doesnt want him. My brilliant career 1979 iin 1979 an australian export, george millers mad max, made a huge splash on the international moviegoing scene. Dec 14, 2019 my brilliant career is a 1979 eastmancolor australian period drama film starring judy davis, sam neill and wendy hughes and directed by gillian armstrong. Franklin submitted the manuscript to henry lawson who contributed a preface and took it to his own publishers in edinburgh.
When sybyllas grandmother writes to her and knowing her. Its a good movie but its davis assured and charismatic portrayal that makes it. My brilliant career 1979 iin 1979 an australian export, george millers mad max, made a huge splash on the international movie going scene. My brilliant career the acclaimed debut of judy davis is the best reason to see my brilliant career, and the awardwinning film is highly recommended as the feature debut of director gillian armstrong. Jul 26, 2016 i started my brilliant career as a geologist in november 1979, one month before the alltime high in crude oil prices, which wasnt reached again for 30 years. I also assumed that miles franklin, on whose book the movie is. Davis landed the lead role in gillian armstrongs assured debut feature my brilliant career fresh out of performance. From the title onwards, my brilliant career operates through irony, and indeed the title has been repeatedly borrowed and played upon, mostly in those same ironic terms. My brilliant career is a refreshing take on period dramas as it gives a voice to its feminist leading lady that wants a career over marriage. Discuss the similarities in and differences between the representation of women in my brilliant career a post1970 australian film that places its narrative in an historical or period setting and jindabyne a post1970 australian film that places its narrative in a contemporary setting 2500 words. My brilliant career tells the story of sybylla melvyn, a strongwilled young woman of the 1890s growing up in the goulburn area of new south wales and longing to be a writer. The popularity of the novel in australia and the perceived closeness of many of the characters to her own family. The suspense in an armstrong film generally leads to a forkintheroad moment in which the female protagonist must choose between the path well traveled and one less taken. My brilliant career 1979 film based on the novel passionate about music and books.
My brilliant career film wikimili, the free encyclopedia. She dreams of writing a book and is sent by her parents to live with her grandmother in lush country where she. As australian screen points out, sybylla melvyn came to life on film in the same year as the road warrior in the masculine fantasy mad max. My brilliant career is a 1979 film directed by gillian armstrong. I sat long by my writing table that nightthinking long, long thoughts, foolish thoughts, sad ones, merry ones, old headed thoughts, and the sweet sweet thoughts of youth and love. Theres no wonder my brilliant career is cited as a milestone in australian feminist cinema. Sybylla lashes out repeatedly against the strictures of her sex. She has dreams of being a great writer, dreams that do not impress her parents, cattle ranchers in the australian outback. It seemd to me that men were not so invincible and invulnerable as i had imagined themit appeared they had feeling and affections after all. My brilliant career is a 1979 eastmancolor australian period drama film starring judy davis, sam neill and wendy hughes and directed by gillian armstrong. Gillian armstrongs film of miles franklins novel remains remarkably true to the spirit of the original which, almost unbelievably, considering the modernity of its sentiments and the ebullient confidence of its tone, was written by a. My brilliant career doesnt need to trumpet either its or its heroines.
When i first saw my brilliant career, when it was released in new york in. In addition to the storyform, youll also find any additional analysis or media related to the story in question. My brilliant career is a 1979 australian period drama film directed by gillian armstrong, and starring judy davis, sam neill, and wendy hughes. It is the first of many novels by stella maria sarah miles franklin, one of the major australian writers of her time. It is so earnest and insistent in its message that the. Based on the 1901 novel of the same name by miles franklin, it follows a young woman in rural, late 19thcentury australia whose aspirations to become a writer are impeded first by her social circumstance, and later by a budding romance. But a much quieter picture, gillian armstrongs my brilliant career, also helped put australia on the filmmaking map that year, and you could argue that, as much fun as mad max and its sequels may be, armstrongs debut feature has aged more gracefully. May 02, 2019 and while there is a fabulous kiss in my brilliant career, the first time harry leans in to buss sybylla, she hits him upside the head with a riding crop. Sybylla has a social conscience and is sympathetic to the plight of those victims of the depression forced to tramp through the bush seeking work or charity.
My brilliant career is one of the strongest of the australian quality exports of the late 1970s. My brilliant career feminist essayshow far are the film and novel versions of my brilliant career feminist in their interpretation. My brilliant career is a 1979 eastmancolor australian drama film, distributed by analysis film releasing corp. The film itself is a kind of free spirit, and one that has made an indelible print on australian.
The focus and essence of my brilliant career by miles franklin is centred on the relationships and interactions of sybylla melvyn the key character of the novel, towards other characters. It was written while she was still a teenager, as a romance to amuse her friends. My brilliant career marks the beginning of exactly that for both the films daring, assured, highspirited australian director, gillian armstrong, and its rambunctious young star. Passionate in her attachments to a world of music and books a world previously known only in imagination sybilla suddenly finds herself in her grandmothers genteel home, caddagat. Daviss electrifying performance in my brilliant career laid the foundation for a career that has included memorable turns in a passage to india 1984, barton fink, and naked lunch both 1991, as well as the roles of george sand impromptu, 1991 and that other judy televisions life with judy garland. My brilliant career 1979 rotten tomatoes movie trailers. It introduced the world to the acting talents of judy davis and she absolutely owns the role of sybylla. Miles franklins original title for the novel was my brilliant. The official website for my brilliant friend on hbo, featuring full episodes online, interviews, schedule information and episode guides. My brilliant career is a 1901 novel written by miles franklin.
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