An Angel at My Table (1990)

In 1920s and 1930s New Zealand, Janet Frame grows up in a poor family with lots of brothers and sisters. Already at an early age she is different from the other kids. She gets an education ... See full summary »

Director:

Jane Campion

Writers:

Janet Frame (autobiographical books "To the Is-Land", "An Angel at My Table" and "The Envoy from Mirror City"), Laura Jones (screenplay)

Stars:

Kerry Fox, Alexia Keogh, Karen Fergusson

18 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kerry Fox	...	Janet Frame
Alexia Keogh	...	Janet Frame as adolescent
Karen Fergusson	...	Janet Frame as a teenager
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

Storyline

In 1920s and 1930s New Zealand, Janet Frame grows up in a poor family with lots of brothers and sisters. Already at an early age she is different from the other kids. She gets an education as a teacher but since she is considered abnormal she stays at a mental institution for eight years. Success comes when she starts to write novels.

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Plot Keywords:

new zealand | writer | based on autobiography | based on novel | f rated | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sensuality and language

Details

Country:

New Zealand Australia UK USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

20 September 1990 (Australia)

Also Known As:

An Angel at My Table

Filming Locations:

Auckland, New Zealand

Box Office

Gross USA:

$1,054,638

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hibiscus Films, New Zealand Film Commission, Television New Zealand (TVNZ)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

158 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Kerry Fox gained two stones (12.7kg) 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.

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Connections

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: City Slickers/Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead/Jungle Fever/An Angel at My Table (1991)

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Soundtracks

Blue Smoke
Written by Karaitiana
Performed by The Ruru Karaitiana Quintet

User Reviews

A Portrait of an Artist

"An Angel at My Table" (1990) made by Jane Campion is a true life-story of Janet Frame (1924-2004), New Zealand's most famous author. The film starts with young Jane, a funny -looking red haired girl, shy and quiet who knew too well that she was "poor, smelly, and unpopular". Then it follows her to misdiagnosis of schizophrenia and more than 200 electroshock treatments in a mental hospital where she had spent eight years and a severe, lifelong shyness that was her only problem. Even in the hospital she was writing and was able to have her book published - writing did save her from losing her mind. The film is based on three of her memoirs, "To the Is-land", "An Angel at My Table" and "The Envoy from Mirror City".

Jane Campion made a very affecting and quietly powerful portrait of a writer who also was a gentle and genuinely humble woman. The film is never a sentimental manipulating story of a talented but misunderstood artist. It does not idealize Frame but it is a very honest and sympathetic portrait of an artist.