Synopsis
Based on the autobiographical work of New Zealand writer Janet Frame, this production depicts the author at various stage of her life. Afflicted with mental and emotional issues, Frame grows up in an impoverished family and experiences numerous tragedies while still in her youth, including the deaths of two of her siblings. Portrayed as an adult by Kerry Fox, Frame finds acclaim for her writing while still in a mental institution, and her success helps her move on with her life.
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Cast
- Kerry FoxJanet Frame
- Alexia KeoghJanet Frame as a child
- Karen FergussonJanet Frame as a teenager
- Iris ChurnMother
- Jessie MuneJanet Frame as a baby
- Kevin J. WilsonFather
- Edith CampionMiss Lindsay
- Francesca CollinsBaby Jane
- Melina BerneckerMyrtle
- Mark MorrisonBruddie Frame as child
Recommendations
- 100
Chicago Sun-Times
It tells its story calmly and with great attention to human detail and, watching it, I found myself drawn in with a rare intensity. - 80
TV Guide Magazine
Jane Campion has established a reputation for making slightly off-center films in which regular folks get glimpses of the darkness that lurks beneath the surfaces of their lives. An admirer of Frame's novels since she was a teenager, Campion builds her film around a heroine who defies Hollywood conventions; she's not beautiful or sexy or sophisticated, and her adventures are mostly intellectual. - 80
Washington Post
A big, sprawling, unshapely thing, insufferably verbose and, at the same time, touched with magnificence. - 80
Empire
Campion's grasp of her material is intellectually and emotionally assured, while Fox's extraordinary performance demonstrates an honesty, courage and power that's rarely attempted, let alone achieved. - 78
Austin Chronicle
Frame's story is told with an intriguingly naked honesty but one that never drags the viewer into emotional prurience. It creates a fascinating portrait. - 75
Slant Magazine
Jane Campion upends staid genre convention with an impressionistic approach to character. - 70
Los Angeles Times
A great compliment to Campion is that the movie never seems less than genuine; it’s consciously anti-commercial. And when “An Angel at My Table” does steer toward a happy ending (this is a film about self-discovery and triumph, after all), even then it strives for gentle epiphany. - 70
The New York Times
For all of the casual brutality of the hospital scenes, An Angel at My Table seems a very gentle film about a woman of such a passionate nature.
