Ma brillante carrière

I watched this movie expecting to be bored stiff, but was pleasantly surprised! This genre of film-making I usually find no interest in, but this one proved to be different. It was well written, well directed, very well acted, and the chemistry between the players was incredible! Very rarely do I view a movie that has a perfect combination of actors, and this was one. Judy Davis and Sam Neill were incredible together, and I'm happy to say they would be in two other films together after this one. Everything about this movie was wonderful. It's just too bad it ends when it does. I found myself very interested in the characters, and wanted to know what became of each. My only qualm with the movie is that it ended too fast! I would definitely have to call this a favorite! That's how good this movie is!

It's 1897 rural Australia. It's rough living in a patriarchal society. Sybylla Melvyn (Judy Davis) has many big dreams. She wants a grand career rather than a marriage. Her mother tells her that they can't keep her anymore. She is sent away to live with her rich grandmother. She is excited at first by the change. She is soon pursued by the Frank Hawdon (Robert Grubb) and childhood acquaintance Harry Beecham (Sam Neill). She refuses to be married off. She grows closer and closer to Harry.

These are two great young Aussie actors. The story meanders a bit. My best comparison is Anne of Green Gables without the humor. Without the humor, Sybylla comes off a little more huffy. Judy Davis is a very appealing actress. The back and forth in the romance is quite compelling. It's an empowering story and there's also the acting. The cinematographer is also great.

Judy Davis is Sybylla, a girl of the Australian outback around 1909. As portrayed by Davis, in her breakthrough role, Sybylla is a font of boundless energy wanting desperately to escape the backwardness of her young life. Sam Neill, also in one of the significant early roles of his career, is likewise charming as the young man who presents her with a tempting alternative to her ambition to become a writer and escape the frontier life forever.

This is not a great or epic story, certainly, but it is a quiet, rewarding story of a young woman's quest for a better life. A worthy entry among the films that marked the ascendancy of the "Australian Renaissance" in film-making during the 1970s; director Armstrong would go on to make such films as "Mrs. Soffel" and the 1994 "Little Women."

If not to see a young Sam Niel or for the gorgeous landscapes of Australia that set the film, see this movie for an interesting viewpoint on feminism and the outback all in one. The main character, Sybylla, is constantly insulted by her alleged friends and family, though they don't intend it directly. Her character's flaky-ness doesn't help her plight as a female in a society hell-bent on marrying her off, but the character's story is worth renting this for.

My mother took me to see this film when I was ten, the year before she died. It changed my entire perspective on the world, set me free from the constraints of fairy tales and inspired me to do something worthwhile with my life (write). I've seen it a few times since then, and found it improved in pace with my understanding.

Apparently Judy Davis didn't like this character or sympathize with her. All I can say is that I'm glad she went ahead and took the role anyway. Sybylla is like Cinderella with a twist worthy of M. Night Shymalan.

The film is sometimes beautiful and lyrical, sometimes depressing and ugly. At all times it is believable because the forces driving Sybylla transcend time and place: creativity and independence. This film taught me that a gilded cage is still a cage.

Even twenty odd years after I first saw it, this film makes me want to cheer. Gillian Armstrong, if you're out there, thank you!