Shine (film) "universal acclaim". "Shine" grossed $35,892,330 in the United States and Canada. The film also grossed $10,187,418 at the box office in Australia. Shine (film) Shine is a 1996 Australian biographical drama film based on the life of pianist David Helfgott, who suffered a mental breakdown and spent years in institutions. It stars Geoffrey Rush, Lynn Redgrave, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Noah Taylor, John Gielgud, Googie Withers, Justin Braine, Sonia Todd, Nicholas Bell, Chris Haywood and Alex Rafalowicz. The screenplay was written by Jan Sardi, and directed by Scott Hicks. The film made its US premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. In 1997,
Shine (film) father's death and to stage a well-received comeback concert, presaging his return to professional music. Geoffrey Rush resumed piano lessons—suspended when he was 14—in order not to require a hand double. Critics allege that certain events and relationships in David's life are portrayed with wild inaccuracy, sometimes even fabricated, resulting in damage to the reputations of real people. Helfgott's sister Margaret Helfgott, in her book "Out of Tune", stresses in particular the case of Helfgott's father Peter Helfgott, who was, according to her, a loving husband, over-lenient parent and very far from the abusive tyrant portrayed in "Shine". Peter Helfgott's