Shine

The film tells the story of Australian concert pianist David Helfgott who was long plagued by psychological problems. As a child, he was tormented by a domineering father who brooked no weakness or failure. The authoritarian patriarch – played by Armin Mueller-Stahl as an obstinate, but by no means inhuman character – had managed to flee Poland under the Nazis, but had lost his parents and siblings during the persecution of the Jews. When David breaks down during a concert, he embarks on an odyssey that will take him through the psychiatric clinics of Australia – constantly in fear of the father who casts his shadow, even from beyond the grave.