Oscar and Lucinda (1997)

To me, this movie is perfection.

Better Late Then Never

A Brilliant Conflict

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

TV Guide describes this as something like "two gamblers meet on a boat," but it's much more than that. It's a story of romance, religion, and ruin -- but not hopeless ruin.The first half presents Raif Fiennes as a semi-deacon of a strict English sect, a young man who has been beaten into neurotic submission to the extent that almost EVERYTHING is forbidden. I'm not sure he wouldn't hesitate before scratching an itch. Estranged from his father for some slight, he supports himself by playing cards, giving the rest to charity. He leaves Oxford aboard the Leviathan for a ministry in Sidney. At the same time we meet Cate Blanchett, an ambitious young lady who enjoys gambling, does well at it, acquires a glass factory, and moves to Australia aboard the Leviathan.The two of them DO meet aboard the ship and spend a lot of time together in Sidney, playing poker and making wagers on all sorts of silly thing, such as who can finish scrubbing the floor first. They're in love, of course, and Blanchett more or less offers herself to him -- she's something of a rebel -- but he shakily backs off.The second half resembles "Fitzcarraldo," when she furnishes the components of a small chapel made entirely of iron and glass plates. Fiennes' job is to schlep it up overland through tough country to an isolated settlement. He gets the job done but it all ends rather badly. Maybe. I mean, he dies a horrifying death by drowning, but then he sees his smiling father reaching out to him, and then a smiling Blanchett reaching to him. I don't know what to make of scenes like that.It's a very genteel story as befits the times. Towards the end, Fiennes does get balled by a horny widow but only when he's half conscious from exhaustion and illness. I didn't know it was possible and I'm still dubious.The photography is crisp and at times epic. The art direction would be hard to improve upon. Blanchett and Fiennes play well together as two somewhat wild redheads. In a way, despite the skilled acting on everyone's part, what's most memorable is Cate Blanchett. She's an actress of considerable range, of course, but she's transcendently beautiful at times in this film -- that long face with its slitted blue eyes, that wide generous mouth, and that impossible, fluorescent nose. It's a face you could fall into.

It's the 19th century New South Wales, Australia. Oscar Hopkins rebels against his strict father as a child and runs away to Anglican priest Hugh Stratton (Tom Wilkinson). He studies to be a priest in England. He (Ralph Fiennes) is always an outsider to his classmates. He doesn't fit and is addicted to gambling. Lucinda Leplastrier (Cate Blanchett) receives a large inheritance which she uses to buy a glass factory in Sydney. They both find themselves as outsiders in society. They are both avid gamblers and transport a glass church to Revered Dennis Hasset (Ciarán Hinds) in a remote settlement.These are two stellar performances of oddball characters. The flow of the story does jump around a bit. The narrative is somewhat disjointed which is usually due to trying to squeeze a novel down to a movie. Once the two leads get together, it's a fascinating combination. These are also such odd unconventional characters. Oscar is a tightly wound ball of neuroses. Lucinda is much better by comparison and is really a woman looking for liberation. The differing views on gambling is weirdly compelling. The performances and the strange situations add together for a fascinating movie.

I believe this movie was quite splendid indeed.I especially enjoyed the part where Oscar said "The" It really was quite smashing.Coming from England I believe this movie was very accurate.My mates and I had a wonderful time watching this film; We believed it was "Sexcii" as the "hip" kids call it these days.Well I must be going now.Chereo! Toodaloo! Right Oh! Goodbye Chaps! Good Evening And Etc.p.s. It was exciting.p.p.s. It was also romanticp.p.p.s It also was a tab bit sadp.p.p.p.s It had a nice plot i say!

This is a beautiful movie. That's the best way I can find to describe it. It's odd and quirky and desperately sad, and it will stick in your memory for a long time to come. The leads are fabulous, I read the book before I saw the film and they were every bit as I'd imagined them. I'd recommend this film to anyone who wants to watch a romantic movie that follows none of the clichés of romantic movies. The soundtrack is great too, haunting and utterly, utterly perfect. Everything about this movie is right, the casting, the script, the look of the sets. The only reason I haven't given this movie 10 is that it doesn't measure up to the book it is based on.