OBSERVER: Shine
When you think of a list of the best Australian films of all time, Shine, the story of pianist David Helfgott, starring Geoffrey Rush, would be right up there.
The man whose vision gave us this film is director Scott Hicks, who has just released his autobiography, appropriately titled Shine: Persistence of Vision.
Born in Uganda, raised in Kenya and England, Scott didn’t come to Australia until 1967 as a 14-year-old.
He discovered the magic of film at Flinders University, where he and his wife Kerry Heysen, embarked on a lifetime of filmmaking.
But it was in 1996 when the biographical drama based on David Helfgott’s life, Shine, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, that Scott Hicks suddenly became a household name.
Getting seven Oscar nominations, including one for best director, will do that for a career.
“At the age of 43, I had, it seems, arrived. I had seen this happen to one or two others from afar, but never imagined I would experience it myself,” Scott writes.
“From this moment on my life would fall into two parts: before and after Shine.”
Shine: Persistence of Vision is full of recognisable names and fascinating insights into the film industry, making it a book that will certainly appeal to lovers of the arts, but also to anyone who has fought against the odds to achieve their vision.
Some 30 years on, Scott still lives in Adelaide with Kerry, and is a proud father and grandfather.
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the film, Shine will be showing at the Adelaide film festival in a new 4k digitally remastered print.
Shine: Persistence of Vision by Scott Hicks is published by Wakefield Press and available in bookshops.
Julie Houghton
Pictured: Scott Hicks