An Angel at My Table (1990)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Jane Campion

Writers:

Janet Frame (autobiographies To the Is-Land, An Angel at My Table and The Envoy from Mirror City)
Laura Jones (writer)

Release Date:

20 September 1990 (Australia)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Plot:

Janet Frame grows up in a poor family with lots of brothers and sisters. Already at an early age she is different than the other kids...

Plot Keywords:

Author | Based On Autobiography | Insanity | Skinny Dipping | Female Frontal Nudity

Awards:

13 wins

Cast

Kerry Fox	...	Janet Frame
Alexia Keogh	...	Janet Frame as adolescent
Karen Fergusson	...	Janet Frame as a child
Iris Churn	...	Mother
Jessie Mune	...	Baby Janet
Kevin J. Wilson	...	Father
Francesca Collins	...	Baby Jane
Melina Bernecker	...	Myrtle
Mark Morrison	...	Bruddie Frame as child
Katherine Murray-Cowper	...	Young Isabel
Mark Thomson	...	Billy Delaware
Brenda Kendall	...	Miss Botting
Paul Moffat	...	Dis McIvor
Blair Hutchison	...	Bully Boy
David McAuslan	...	Bully Boy
Ailene Herring	...	Teacher
Faye Flegg	...	Doctor
Carla Hedgeman	...	Young Poppy
Timothy Bartlett	...	Gussy Dymock
Richard Mills	...	Talent Scout
Sassy Acorn	...	Audition Girl
Tony Creamer	...	Audition Boy
Hamish McFarlane	...	Avril Luxon
Geoff Barlow	...	Headmaster
Samantha Townsley	...	Teenage Isabel
Sarah Llewellyn	...	June Frame as Child
Christopher Lawrence	...	Bruddie Frame as Teen
Edith Campion	...	Miss Lindsay
Fiona Kay	...	Marguerite
Brian Flegg	...	Doctor
Eileen Clark	...	Neighbor
Margaret Gordon	...	Neighbor
Caroline Somerville	...	Poppy as teen
Lilian Enting	...	Miss Crowe
Fiona Brown	...	Shirley
Maureen Duffy	...	Miss Farnie
Karla Smith	...	Sybil
Willa O'Neill	...	Edith
Fritha Stalker	...	Bridget
Melanie Reid	...	Melanie
Natasha Gray	...	Lesley
Kelly Stewart	...	Rose
Andrew Robertt	...	Bruddie (as Andrew Binns)
Glynis Angell	...	Isabel
Susan McGregor	...	June Frame as teen
Erin Mills	...	Katherine
Virginia Brocklehurst	...	Rona
Natalie Ellis	...	Aunt Isy
Eddie Hegan	...	Uncle George
Sarah Smuts-Kennedy	...	June
Colin McColl	...	John Forrest
Erin Dorricott	...	Eunice
Francene Clark	...	Mary
Doreen Donnell	...	Teacher
Alistair Douglas	...	Headmaster
Rod Collison	...	Mr. Niles
Harry Lavington	...	Head of Psychology
Sheryl Stewart	...	Nurse Maitland
Cushla Ashton	...	Borstal Girl
Jacqueline O'Rourke	...	Borstal Girl
Joy Trow	...	Woman on Platform
June Shane	...	Neighbour
Annabelle Lomas	...	Mrs. Chandler
Ann Coc-Kroft	...	Nurse
David Stott	...	Doctor
Elizabeth McRae	...	Nurse
Jim Rawdon	...	Wilson
Peter Brunt	...	Dr. Burt
Celia Nicholson	...	Piona
Peter Needham	...	Dr. Palmer
Joshua Cole	...	June and Wilson's Child
Ian Hendl	...	June and Wilson's Child
Martyn Sanderson	...	Frank Sargeson
Jessica Wilcox	...	Kay Stead
Mark Clare	...	Karl Stead
Helene Anderson	...	Norwegian Woman
Joan Foster	...	Hotel Manageress
David Letch	...	Patrick
Rob Jayne	...	Ben
Sharon Marsden	...	Katie
Colette Cooper	...	Bohemian
Paul Norell	...	Bohemian
Julia Calvo	...	Spanish Woman on Train
Carlos Martínez	...	Spanish Official
Maria Matias	...	Spanish Woman
Michael Harry	...	Colin
Maria Mercedes Moroto	...	Catalina
Paula Sánchez	...	Francesca
Timothy Smith	...	Edwin Mather
Alison Bruce	...	Dora
William Brandt	...	Bernhard
Gwyneth Hugues	...	Matron
Gerald Bryan	...	Dr. Cawley
Billie Atkinson	...	Mrs. Morgan
Peter Dennett	...	Mark Goulden
David McKenzie	...	Alan Sillitoe
Eleanor Wragge	...	Ruth Sillitoe
Caroline Flint	...	Mrs. Goulden
Rachel Hernandez	...	Columba
Patrick Griffiths	...	Reporter
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Collette Cooper	...	Collette
Jack Dacey	...	Extra in games scene in room (uncredited)
Melissa Dawson	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Jane Campion

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Janet Frame		autobiographies To the Is-Land, An Angel at My Table and The Envoy from Mirror City
Laura Jones		writer

Produced by
Bridget Ikin	....	producer
Grant Major	....	producer
John Maynard	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Don McGlashan

Cinematography by
Stuart Dryburgh

Film Editing by
Veronika Jenet		(as Veronika Haeussler)

Casting by
Diana Rowan

Production Design by
Grant Major

Art Direction by
Jackie Gilmore
Grant Major

Costume Design by
Glenys Jackson

Makeup Department
Marjory Hamlin	....	hair stylist
Marjory Hamlin	....	makeup artist
Cheryl Newton	....	wig maker
Elle Stephenson	....	hair stylist
Elle Stephenson	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Owen Hughes	....	production manager
Lisa Kissin	....	unit manager
Janet McIver	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jessica Hobbs	....	second assistant director
John Maynard	....	second unit director
Malcom Robertson	....	third assistant director
Corrie Soeterboek	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Bob Asquith	....	scenic artist (as Bob Askwith)
Graham Aston	....	art department assistant
Meryl Cronin	....	set dresser
Nicky Marshall	....	art department assistant
Lyndsay Meager	....	stand-by props
John Miles	....	construction manager
Russell Munro	....	carpenter
Horace Newton	....	carpenter
Annette Patrick	....	set finisher
Paul Radford	....	scenic artist
Trevor Tutte	....	carpenter

Sound Department
John Dennison	....	dubbing editor
John Dennison	....	sound mixer
Robert Lennon	....	assistant sound editor
George Lyle	....	boom operator
Graham Morris	....	sound recordist
Tony Vaccher	....	dubbing editor
Tony Vaccher	....	sound mixer

Camera and Electrical Department
Amanda Clark	....	clapper loader
Allen Guilford	....	photography: second unit
Brian Harris	....	grip
John Maynard	....	still photographer
Peter McCaffrey	....	assistant camera
Sean O'Neill	....	generator operator
Danny Williams	....	gaffer

Casting Department
Alex Boyd	....	casting assistant
Faith Martin	....	casting: Australia

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Lesley Burkes-Harding	....	assistant costume designer (as Lesley Burkes)
Susan Hackshaw	....	stand-by wardrobe
Trixie Woodill	....	stand-by wardrobe

Editorial Department
Joyce Alchin	....	negative matcher
Margaret Bourke	....	negative matcher
Theo Brandt	....	assistant editor
Arthur Cambridge	....	color grader
Jane Cole	....	assistant editor
Mary Dennison	....	assistant editor
Melanie Oliver	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Keith Ballantyne	....	score recordist
Graeme Myhre	....	score mixer

Other crew
Tina Andreef	....	assistant to director
Monserrat Baste-Kraan	....	production coordinator: Spain
Juan Antonio Caballero	....	production runner: Spain
Anna Campion	....	production assistant: London
Jan Chapman	....	script editor
Lynn-Maree Danzey	....	script supervisor
Greg De Marigny	....	production runner
Katherine Fry	....	production assistant
Moira Grant	....	production assistant
David Hazlett	....	production assistant: London
Lisa Kissin	....	location manager
Sam Thompson	....	production coordinator

Production Companies

• Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)
• Channel Four Films
• Hibiscus Films
• New Zealand Film Commission
• Television New Zealand (TVNZ)

Distributors

• Sharmill Distributors (1990) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Cinemien (1990) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Fine Line Features (1991) (USA) (theatrical)
• Applause Home Video (199?) (Australia) (VHS)
• Argentina Video Home (199?) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Artificial Eye
• Criterion Collection, The (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Homescreen (199?) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Homescreen (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Roadshow Home Video (199?) (Australia) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Audioloc Sound Design  post-production sound
• Film Facilities Ltd.  camera equipment
• Mandrill Studios  post-sync recording
• Optical & Graphics  titles

Runtime:

158 min

Country:

UK | Australia | New Zealand

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Certification:

Netherlands:12 | South Korea:15 | UK:15 | Australia:M (DVD rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-10 | Germany:12 | Singapore:M18 | Sweden:11 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Auckland, New Zealand

Company:

Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)

Trivia:

Kerry Fox gained two stone for her role as Janet Frame. She managed this by drinking liters of Coca-Cola, eating packets of chocolate biscuits and going on the pill.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Zomergasten: (#7.5)" (1994)

Soundtrack:

Symphony No. 6

Another fine example of extraordinary talent from NZ!

I think this film is another fine example of Kiwi talent! Some incredibly original literature, film, television, and acting talent originates from the island nation of New Zealand. "An Angel At My Table" is one of the great examples. The first time I saw this film (or tele-film) I was left emotionally affected by Janet Frame's life. I could not believe how easy it was for someone to be treated the way she was just because she was shy, socially awkward and had curly, red hair. How times have changed! Nowadays if you are not a freak ... you are a freak! It is scary to think how easy it was, apparently at that time, for a person to be thrown into a madhouse. Not to mention the deplorable conditions of those types of institutions.

Initially, I felt sorry for Ms. Frame but then I realized she probably has had a fuller life than I have had (or probably ever will). She has accomplished so much and given pleasure to the many who have read her stories and poetry. Watching this film has prompted me to begin looking for her writings since I have been so intrigued by her story. I was glad to see that by the end of the movie she had begun to become comfortable with herself and open her shell. Biographical information on Ms. Frame seems sketchy. I have not found much information about her life after the period where the film ended.

Thank you Jane Campion for another wonderful character driven film (albeit a real-life character this time)! The only real criticism I have of the film is the portrayal of Frame's time in the institution. While the film did not make it pretty nor gloss over the situation in general, sources I have read indicate Janet was dangerously close to receiving an operation that seems similar to a lobotomy. The operation, if performed, would have left Janet an emotionless, child-like creature and was not adequately depicted. But for the grace of her publication, she was saved.