AN ANGEL AT MY TABLE (1990) - ♦♦♦♦♦

Directed by - Jane Campion

Written by - Laura Jones (based on the autobiographies 'To the Is-Land', 'An Angel at My Table' and 'The Envoy From Mirror City by Janet Frame)

Starring - Kerry Fox, Alexia Keogh, Karen Fergusson

"An Angel at My Table was arguably the film that established Jane Campion as one of the greatest filmmakers of her generation. 

Despite the scale of the project, which is based on Janet Frame's autobiographical works and tells the story of the writer's own tumultuous life from her rural upbringing and living through a series of traumatic experiences as well as several years in a mental institution to become New Zealand's premiere poet and writer, the filmmaker seems to have full control of everything in it. 

From pace, to structure and a genuine representation of the fragility and endless talent of its central character, this is far more rewarding and cohesive than most other biopics of the same time. Simoultaneously, one can also note that An Angel at My Table has strong feminist undertones and feels like a tribute not only to a more universal figure of the artist, but also as a tribute to the resiliance of female struggles within a male dominated society. 

Frame is portrayed in the film by Kerry Fox, who amazingly made her big screen debut in this film. Her round eyed performance as the shy and introverted writer can constantly be likened to that of an indomitable soul faced with imposed solitary confinement, a lion in a cage, helpless in the eyes of the hardships and inevitabilities of life. 

It is also fascinating to note that while the film tells the tale of a series of unfortunate events, often painfully dramatic to the point of being downright hard to watch, it is also underlined by an uplifting tone while the poetic realism of the story finds a clever juxtaposition with a spectacular cinematography that treasures a monumental approach by contrasting it with a more to the bone intimacy.

Biopic, New Zealand/Australia/UK