Oscar and Lucinda (1997)

Director:

Gillian Armstrong

Writers:

Peter Carey (novel)
Laura Jones (screenplay)

Release Date:

31 December 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

A dream. A lie. A wager. Love.

Plot:

In mid-1800's England, Oscar is a young Anglican priest, a misfit and an outcast, but with the soul of an angel...

Plot Keywords:

Church | Glass | Australia | Inheritance | Wager

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 9 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Ralph Fiennes	...	Oscar Hopkins
Cate Blanchett	...	Lucinda Leplastrier
Ciarán Hinds	...	Reverend Dennis Hasset (as Ciaran Hinds)
Tom Wilkinson	...	Hugh Stratton
Richard Roxburgh	...	Mr. Jeffries
Clive Russell	...	Theophilus
Bille Brown	...	Percy Smith
Josephine Byrnes	...	Miriam Chadwick
Barnaby Kay	...	Wardley-Fish
Barry Otto	...	Jimmy D'Abbs
Linda Bassett	...	Betty Stratton
Geoffrey Rush	...	Narrator (voice)
Polly Cheshire	...	Young Lucinda
Gillian Jones	...	Elizabeth Leplastrier
Robert Menzies	...	Abel Leplastrier

MPAA:

Rated R for a scene of sexuality, and for brief violence.

Runtime:

132 min

Country:

USA | Australia | UK

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Germany:6 (bw) | Mexico:B | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Boscastle, Cornwall, England, UK

Company:

Australian Film Finance Corporation (AFFC)

Trivia:

Based on the 1988 Booker Award winning novel by Australian Peter Carey.

Quotes:

[On seeing the glass model]
Oscar: It is like a kennel for God's angels.

Soundtrack:

Fantasia in C Minor for Piano, Chorus & Orchestra, Op.80

Under-rated, surprising, beautiful

The marketing for this film in America was absurd when compared to the real thing. I had seen the trailers, and as I am intrigued by anything with Ralph Fiennes, I took notice. However, the preview stressed an gambling-chance-obsessive fun aspect that I found less than compelling. Had the true soul and purpose of the movie come through in that two minute-long advert, I would have been hooked. As it was, I waited until it came out on video.

My expectations, coloured by this misleading trailer, were well exceeded. The film had to do with love and gambling, yes, but there were elements of faith, guilt, family, destiny and survival that were wholly ignored in the press. Ralph Fiennes is marvellous as a disheveled and uncertain faithful, with a boyish charm and utter purity that is difficult to portray without seeming slow-witted or unlikeable. Cate Blanchett, who has received a tremendous amount of notice for her recent portrayal of Elizabeth, is a fountain of strength, charm, capricious abandon, intelligence and sensuality. Like her minor role in _Paradise Road_, she steals scenes and breaks hearts with an undeniable charisma and resolve.

Set in Australia, the story is surprising, and ultimately shocking in its constrast of the ideal and the real. I was moved, and thoroughly impressed with this movie. This is a romance for those who are tired of the predictable, the trite and the overworked. The scenery is beautiful, and the direction is both soft and unflinching. A wonderful achievement.

--Salome