Shine

The film's biggest argument happened inside the family rather than on screen. After its success, David Helfgott's sister Margaret wrote a book called Out of Tune claiming the film was wildly inaccurate and demeaned their father, who died in 1975. In her account he was not a tyrant but a loving man who, if anything, was too lenient. Director Scott Hicks answered in a letter to the Wall Street Journal. He wrote that other members of the family supported his depiction, that he had withheld far more serious accusations of abuse out of consideration for the family and the audience, and that every action of the character Peter Helfgott originated in a real event. The story follows the Australian pianist David Helfgott growing up under his father's pressure, his collapse while playing Rachmaninov's third concerto in London, and his return to the stage years later. Geoffrey Rush plays the adult David and won the Best Actor Oscar; Noah Taylor plays him young and Armin Mueller-Stahl plays the father. Who it is for: viewers who like biographical drama about music, mental illness and fatherhood. Who it is not for: anyone who wants certainty about the facts. Part of the family openly rejects the chain of cause and effect the film builds.