Criterion Collection: Angel At My Table

( 1 )

Overview

New Zealand poet Janet Frame is the subject of Jane Campion's biographical drama, which presents a poetically evocative look at the authoress' turbulent life. The film begins with a look at Frame's childhood, showing her as a bright but odd-looking, emotionally fragile young girl with a knack for writing. Frame faces great difficulty in adapting to the conventional rural life around her, and her social awkwardness only worsens as she grows older. After she fails in her attempt to become a schoolteacher due to an ...
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Overview

New Zealand poet Janet Frame is the subject of Jane Campion's biographical drama, which presents a poetically evocative look at the authoress' turbulent life. The film begins with a look at Frame's childhood, showing her as a bright but odd-looking, emotionally fragile young girl with a knack for writing. Frame faces great difficulty in adapting to the conventional rural life around her, and her social awkwardness only worsens as she grows older. After she fails in her attempt to become a schoolteacher due to an intense panic attack, she is subject to a psychiatric evaluation and shamefully misdiagnosed as a schizophrenic. Frame is subsequently committed to a mental institution, where she suffers years of unnecessary shock treatments and other horrors. Her salvation comes through her writings, however, which attract the attention of a renowned author who arranges her release. While the nightmare of Frame's institutionalization is presented with great sensitivity and power, Campion and screenwriter Laura Jones, to their credit, refuse to simplify her story to this one pivotal event. Instead, they pay equal attention to Frame's subsequent life, as she slowly adjusts life in the outside world, experiencing literary success and her first romance. Expressive visuals add immeasurably to the total effect, while Kerry Fox's superb performance creates a truly affecting portrait of Frame. Impressively, the film was originally made as a mini-series for New Zealand television, and slightly reedited for a later theatrical release.
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Special Features

New high-definition digital transfer, supervised by director of photography Stuart Dryburgh and approved by director Jane Campion; new Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack; Audio commentary featuring Campion, Dryburgh, and actress Kerry Fox; a 10-minute documentary about the making of An Angel at My Table; six deleted scenes; My Say, an audio interview with Janet Frame from 1983; original theatrical trailer; stills gallery; optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing; Plus a 40-page booklet featuring a new essay by film critic Amy Taubin and excerpts from Frame's autobiography, on which Campion based her film
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Editorial Reviews

All Movie Guide - Michael Hastings
Originally commissioned as a miniseries for New Zealand television, Jane Campion's sophomore directorial effort is a sprawling adaptation of the memoirs of author and poet Janet Frame, whose budding talents as a young writer were squelched by her community's -- and at times, even her own -- conviction that she be institutionalized. The film is as much a chronicle of one woman's changing emotional landscape as it is an expose of the sordid conditions of the country's psychiatric hospitals of the '50s, where Frame was left to languish until her writings attracted the attention of influential writers and editors. The perennially reliable character actress Kerry Fox established herself in the role of the adult Frame, and she delivers delicate, carefully modulated emotion beneath Frame's trademark shock of red hair. The film bears more than a passing resemblance to later "institutionalized genius" pictures (most notably 1996's Shine), but Campion avoids letting her subject become a mere martyr; there are incidents in which Frame exercises bad judgement, and her transition to the life of a successful, independent woman is a shaky, apprehensive one. As is common in Campion's films, however, the director seems to be outlining a larger social pathology behind her heroine's insecurity and pathos. Angel marked the beginning of the director's kinetic, distinctive work with cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh, who would also shoot The Piano and Portrait of a Lady.
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Product Details

  • Release Date: 9/20/2005
  • UPC: 715515016124
  • Original Release: 1990

    • Rating:

  • Source: Criterion
  • Region Code: 1
  • Presentation: Wide Screen
  • Language: English
  • Time: 2:38:00
  • Format: DVD
  • Sales rank: 17,817

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits
Kerry Fox Janet Frame
Alexia Keogh Janet Frame, as a Child
Karen Fergusson Janet Frame as a child
Iris Churn Mother
Glynis Angell Isabel Frame
K.J. Wilson Dad
Melina Bernecker Myrtle Frame
William Brandt Bernard
Sarah Smuts-Kennedy June Frame
Colin McColl John Forrest
Martyn Sanderson Frank Sargeson
David Letch Patrick
Peter Dennett Mark Goulden
David McKenzie Alan Sillitoe
Paul Sanchez Francesca
Peter Needham Dr. Palmer
Natalie Ellis Aunt Isy
Eddie Hegan Uncle George
Andrew Binns Bruddie
Melanie Reid Melanie
Willa O'Neill Edith
Karla Smith Sybil
Edith Campion Miss Lindsay
Sassy Acorn Audition Girl
Helene Anderson Norwegian Woman
Cushla Aston Borstal Girl
Billy Atkinson Mrs. Morgan
Geoff Barlow Headmaster
Timothy Bartlett Gussy Dymock
Virginia Brocklehurst Rona
Fiona Brown Shirley
Alison Bruce Dora
Peter Brunt Dr. Burt
Gerald Bryan Dr. Crawley
Julia Calvo Spanish Woman on Train
Mark Clare Karl Stead
Eileen Clark Neighbour
Francene Clark Mary
Anne Cockroft Nurse
Joshua Cole June and Wilson's Child
Francesca Collins Baby Jane
Rod Collinson Mr. Niles
Bohemian Cooper
Tony Creamer Audition Boy
Dave Scott Doctor
Melissa Dawson Nora Bone
Donnell Doreen Teacher
Erin Dorricott Eunice
Alistair Douglas Headmaster
Maureen Duffy Miss Farnie
Lillian Enting Miss Crowe
Faye Flegg Doctor
Caroline Flint Mrs. Goulden
Angela Ford Turning Girl
Joan Foster Hotel Manageress
Margaret Gordon Neighbor
Natasha Gray Lesley
Patrick Griffiths Reporter
Michael Harry Colin
Carla Hedgeman Young Poppy
Ian Hendl June and Wilson's Child
Rachel Hernandez Columba
Ailene Herring Teacher
Gwyneth Hugues Matron
Blair Hutchinson Bully Boy
Rob Jayne Ben
Fiona Kay Marguerite
Brenda Kendall Miss Botting
Harry Lavington Head of Psychology
Christopher Lawrence Buddie Frame, as a Teenager
Sarah Llewwllyn June Frame - as a Child
Annabel Lomas Mrs. Chandler
Elizabeth MacRae Nurse
Maria Mercedes Marato Catalina
Sharon Marsden Katie
Faith Martin
Carlos Martinez Spanish Official
Maria Matias Spanish Woman
David McAuslan Bully Boy
Hamish McFarlane Avril Luxon
Susan McGregor June Frame, as a Teenager, Pamela
Erin Mills Katherine
Richard Mills Talent Scout
Paul Moffat Dis McIvor
Mark Morrison Buddie Frame, as a Child
Jessie Mune Janet Frame - as a Baby
Katherine Murray-Cowper Young Isabel
Celia Nicholson Piona
Jacqueline O'Rourke Borstal Girl
Jim Rawdon Wilson
Diana Rowan
June Shane Neighbour
Timothy Smith Edwin Mather
Caroline Somerville Poppy, as a Teenager
Fritha Stalker Bridget
Sheryl Stewart Nurse Maitland
Kelly Stewart Rose
Lorna Storm Groovy Girl
David Stott Doctor
Mark Thomson Billy Delaware
Samantha Townsley Isabel Frame, as a Teenager
Joy Trow Woman on Platform
Jessica Wilcox Kay Stead
Eleanor Wragge Ruth Sillitoe
Technical Credits
Jane Campion Director
Stuart Dryburgh Cinematographer
Jackie Gilmore Art Director
Majory Hamlin Makeup
Veronica Haussler Editor
Veronika Haussler Editor
Bridget Ikin Producer, Production Manager
Glenys Jackson Costumes/Costume Designer
Laura Jones Screenwriter
Lisa Kissin Production Designer, Production Manager, Set Decoration/Design
Grant Major Producer, Production Designer
John Maynard Asst. Director, Co-producer
Don McGlashan Score Composer
Elle Stephenson Makeup
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Scene Index

Disc #1 -- Angel at My Table
1. To the Is-Land [4:14]
2. Making Friends [5:10]
3. Outsiders [3:52]
4. Poppy [3:21]
5. A Poem [3:18]
6. Discoveries [6:16]
7. A New Friend [6:34]
8. "Where's Myrtle?" [5:48]
9. "I'm Going to be a Poet" [5:06]
10. Changes [8:09]
11. Training College and University [5:01]
12. Isabel Arrives [6:16]
13. "Face-to-Face With the Future" [4:05]
14. Stage Fright [4:46]
15. Hospital [5:15]
16. Diagnosis [2:23]
17. Another Tragedy [3:15]
18. Shock Treatment [2:56]
19. Publication [2:39]
20. Frank Sargeson [5:59]
21. A Literary Grant [5:42]
22. Europe [3:07]
23. Ibiza, Spain [8:51]
24. Una Escritora [3:34]
25. An American Arrives [4:54]
26. Boyfriend [2:54]
27. Grief [8:19]
28. New Diagnosis [7:00]
29. Going Home [8:43]
30. "Hush Hush Hush" [4:36]
31. Color Bars [5:54]
1. Toilet [:30]
2. Jump Rope [:35]
3. In the Garden [:34]
4. The Departure [:48]
5. An Encounter in London [:18]
6. Staying There [:26]
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Menu

Disc #1 -- Angel at My Table
   Play the Movie
   Chapters
   Commentary
      Commentary: On/Off
   Supplements
      The Making of An Angel at My Table
         Play
      Deleted Scenes
         Play
         Index
      Trailer
      My Say: An Interview With Janet Frame
         Play
      Stills Gallery
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Customer Reviews

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