Shine

Updated June 26, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

Shine Archive Photos

Few things are as tragic as a parent destroying a child's life by living vicariously through his or her offspring. The child almost never rebounds, forever carrying the parent's baggage. Australian piano virtuoso David Helfgott did make a comeback, though it took him nearly 30 years to do so. As a child, David (Rafalowicz) was a prodigy, and his overbearing father (Mueller-Stahl) was proud and adoring as long as David succeeded. When adolescent David (Taylor) begins to show independence by accepting a scholarship abroad, his father spins into a mad fury. David makes the break and breaks down after conquering the unconquerable “Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3,” landing in an institution. He meets a woman (Redgrave) who helps him recover from his trauma. An elegant study of a dysfunctional parent-child relationship and its devastating effects.