Lilian's Story (Jerzy Domaradzki, 1996) prod. Marian Macgowan, novel Kate Grenville 1984, based on Bea Miles; Ruth Cracknell, Barry Otto, Toni Collette; we see Lilian's father raping her; review by Peter Malone in Cinema Papers, no. 110, June 1996; (cf. NZ film The Heart of the Stag, where there is less or no trauma; cf. also another film with Cracknell, The Singer and the Dancer); Collette won Best Supporting Actress AFIs 1996
Powerful film with the two best actresses of their generations playing the same character at different ages.
Warning: incest.
Kate Grenville's 1984 novel was a thinly fictionalized account of the life of a well-known Sydney eccentric, Bea Miles, who used to cadge taxi rides and offer recitations of Shakespeare in lieu of payment. ... Ace Polish cinematographer Slawomir Idziak gives the film, and the city of Sydney, a Euro look, and uses yellow filters (as he did for Kieslowski's A Short Film About Killing) for the flashbacks; in his inventive hands, pic is visually rich. Cezary Skubiszewski's music score is a major plus.
With careful handling, Lilian's Story, despite its heavyweight themes, could score in specialized venues. David Stratton, Variety.
See also: Garry Gillard & Lois Achimovich 2003, “The representation of madness in some Australian films”, Journal of Critical Psychology Counselling and Psychotherapy, 3, 1, Spring: 9-19.
Garry Gillard | New: 16 November, 2012 | Now: 13 December, 2019