SHINE, an Australian film drama was released in early 1997, and later that year its main actor, Geoffrey Rush, picked up both Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA awards for Best Actor. Its Australian director, Scott Hicks was nominated for an Oscar as Best Director, and received the prestigious David Lean Award For Direction at the BAFTAs. So pretty impressive credentials. But did SHINE live up to the hype?

The story opens with a disheveled, middle-aged man, stumbling around in heavy rain and constantly muttering apparent nonsense to himself. From here, we flashback to David as a young boy from a poor German immigrant family in the 1950s, and the relationship with his father, who is portrayed as a dominant and obsessive parent, and an old fashioned disciplinarian. It is he who introduces David to music in the first place, branding the immortal words upon his mind early on: "I know life is cruel, but music will always be your friend. Everything else will let you down in the end". From then on David is subjected to intense pressure by his father to learn Rachmaninov's 3rd Piano Concerto, a tortuous work, even for accomplished adult pianists to achieve. Young David is put through music competitions playing recitals of lesser works, but has mixed success in winning them, which only makes his 'determined to win' father bully and humiliate him even further. Eventually Isaac Stern, the acclaimed violinist , hears David's playing, while visiting Australia and offers him a scholarship at an American academy.. This seems like great news, but soon afterwards, David's father steps in, and refuses to let his son go, claiming the family needs his support. After this initial blow, a few years on, when David is now a nervous and awkward adolescent, he is given a second bite of the cherry, when he is offered a scholarship at the Royal College of Music in England. Again his father intervenes, and forbids David to go. However after a serious and violent argument over this, David decides to defy his father and takes up the course. At this point his father disowns David, and they never see or communicate with each other again until many years later.

Now reduced to a shambling and mumbling human wreck, David returns to Australia and is assigned to a mental institution as a day patient. For years, he has given up playing the piano, until one day during a sing-along entertainment session at the hospital, he helps out the pianist, and sits beside her, when he discovers his interest in music, and playing the piano has been re-kindled. Although advised by doctors not to touch the piano again, David ignores the advice, and starts to practice again to realize that his touch has not deserted him. From here on his confidence slowly returns, and by winning new friends over once again he begins to build a reputation for himself in Australia as a pianist of distinction. Eventually against all odds he largely overcomes his mental handicap and even finds marriage.to an admirer.