Gillian Armstrong Movies
A technical theatre student at Swinburne College, Gillian Armstrong studied filmmaking at the Melbourne and Australian Film and Television School, paying her tuition by working as a waitress. She functioned in several secondary technical capacities in the Australian film industry, then she made her mainstream directorial bow with the 1977 short The Singer and the Dancer, a soft-pedaled feminist tract which won an award at the Sydney Festival. Her first feature was My Brilliant Career (1979), which combined a modern sensibility concerning male/female relationships with the glossy romanticism of a 19th-century novel. Featuring a star-making turn by Judy Davis, My Brilliant Career garnered seven Australian Film Institute awards, firmly securing Armstrong's reputation and future in her native country.Armstrong's next major feature, the American-financed Mrs. Soffel (1984), starred Diane Keaton and Mel Gibson. The real-life tale of a scandalous love affair between a prison warden's wife and a prisoner, it was moderately well-received. After directing two concert documentaries, Armstrong returned to Australia to make High Tide (1987), a drama about a woman (Judy Davis) struggling to reconcile herself with both her past and the daughter she abandoned at birth. Both that film and Armstrong's next major feature, the critically-acclaimed The Last Days of Chez Nous (1992), went largely unknown outside of her native country.
It was with her 1994 adaptation of Little Women that Armstrong earned a substantial degree of international recognition; featuring strong performances by the likes of Susan Sarandon, Winona Ryder, and Claire Danes, the film became one of the most popular of the year. Armstrong followed this success three years later with Oscar and Lucinda, an adaptation of the Peter Carey novel of the same name. Starring Ralph Fiennes and a then-relatively unknown Cate Blanchett as two misfits who fall in love in 19th-century Australia, the film was a model of strong production values and stellar performances, but received a mixed reception on both sides of the Pacific. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
My Brilliant Career and Oscar and Lucinda director Gillian Armstrong explores the final feat of the greatest illusionist ever to deceive a live audience in this docudrama concerning Harry Houdini's obsessive quest to find proof of an afterlife. The year is 1926, and Houdini (Guy Pearce) is an international superstar. Not only does the illusionist's otherworldly ability to bend reality hold audiences completely enthralled, but his easy charm finds him winning the hearts of his growing legion of fans as well. Yet behind Houdini's winning smile resides the restless heart of a tortured soul. Isolated by fame and drowning in regret over having not been present to hear his mother's last words, Houdini sets out in tour of Scotland and announces that he will pay 10,000 dollars to anyone who can prove spiritual contact with his deceased mother. But in his determination to prove that there is life after death, Houdini also becomes the target of countless charlatans, scam artists, and self-proclaimed spiritualists. Of course, stunning psychic Mary McGregor (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and her daughter/sidekick, Benji (Saoirse Ronan), seem remarkably sincere in their supernatural talents, yet that doesn't mean that the pair doesn't have their own ulterior motives for making a connection with the world-famous magic man. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Guy Pearce, Catherine Zeta-Jones, (more)
- 2006
Florence Broadhurst was best known as a leading Australian interior designer who turned a small business into one of the nation's largest wallpaper companies. However, Broadhurst's past was something of a mystery to many people, and not without reason -- she was a woman with a gift for assuming and shedding identities at will, and Australian filmmaker Gillian Armstrong looks at her remarkable life and times in this documentary. In 1899, Broadhurst was born in a farming community in Queensland, and from an early age she had a powerful desire to see the world. By the time she was in her mid-twenties, Broadhurst had made her way to Shanghai and was gaining fame on the cabaret circuit. Later on, Broadhurst moved to England and fabricated an impressive history as a blue-blooded socialite for herself, and by the time she returned to Australia she had convinced those around her she was a moneyed and talented designer and enjoyed a very successful career until her shocking murder in 1977. Unfolding Florence: The Many Lives of Florence Broadhurst tells the story of her life through newsreel footage, vintage photographs, animation, dramatic reenactments, and interviews with her family and friends. Unfolding Florence received its North American premiere at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Judi Farr, Felicity Price, (more)
Based on the best-selling novel by Sebastian Faulks, this drama, set in Europe during World War II, stars Cate Blanchett as Charlotte, a Scottish woman living in London. Charlotte falls in love with Peter (Rupert Penry-Jones), a handsome RAF pilot, and the two are soon caught up in a torrid affair. Before long, Peter is sent off on a mission over France, and Charlotte receives word that Peter has been reported missing in action. Fluent in French and desperate to find the man she loves, Charlotte volunteers for work with British intelligence and is soon smuggled into France where she is to work with French resistance forces, posing as a woman from Paris. As Charlotte goes about her duties and tries to find Peter, she finds herself drawn to Julien (Billy Crudup), a Communist working with resistance forces. Charlotte is assigned to pose as a domestic at the home of Julien's father, Levade (Michael Gambon), where he's hiding two Jewish boys whose parents have been captured by Nazi troops. In order to maintain her cover and protect Julien, Levade, and the boys, Charlotte finds herself drawn into a relationship with Renech (Anton Lesser), a busybody schoolteacher who is collaborationg with the occupation troops. Directed by Gillian Armstrong, Charlotte Gray also features James Fleet, Ron Cook, and Helen McCrory. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Cate Blanchett, Billy Crudup, (more)
Australian director Gillian Armstrong directed this Laura Jones adaptation of Peter Carey's 1988 Booker Prize-winning novel. In a lengthy flashback, Oscar Hopkins' great grandson (Geoffrey Rush) narrates the family history that led to his birth. On an Australian farm, Lucinda Leplastrier was tutored by her intelligent mother, a woman who took part in the early feminist movement. Oscar's lonely boyhood in rural England was under the watchful eye of his preacher father. At Oxford to train as a minister, the adult Oscar (Ralph Fiennes) feels he doesn't fit in and develops a passion for gambling, giving his winnings away to the poor. Oscar and Lucinda (Cate Blanchett) meet aboard a ship; he's off to the outback to work as a missionary, and she's returning from London after buying equipment for her glass factory. As mutual misfits, they have an instant attraction and quickly grow close, developing a romantic relationship based on trust. However, the Rev. Dennis Hasset (Ciarán Hinds) and Lucinda are friends, sharing an interest in glass. Convinced they are in love, Oscar embarks on an unusual and difficult task, building a glass church for the reverend, an ambitious project to attempt in the remote wilderness. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ralph Fiennes, Cate Blanchett, (more)
- 1996
In 1976, Australian filmmaker Gillian Armstrong made Smokes and Lollies, a documentary profiling the lives, thoughts and feelings of three rambunctious, rebellious working class 14-year-old girls. Four years later, Armstrong returned to the girls' hometown, Adelaide, and made another documentary about them Fourteen's Good, Eighteen's Better (1981). In 1988, she returned once again to make Bingo, Bridesmaids and Braces. Not Fourteen Again is the final, fascinating entry in the series. By now, the girls Josie, Diana and Kerry, have become stable, busy mothers of their own teenage daughters, something that provides Armstrong with interesting contrasts as she combines the thoughts of the new generation with those of their mothers back in '76. In the end, Armstrong hosts a special dinner for the women and their families to celebrate their changes. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
Louisa May Alcott's classic novel about a family of women in Civil War-era New England is again brought to the screen in this adaptation. The focus is on the March sisters, four young girls raised by their mother (Susan Sarandon) after their father leaves for battle as part of the Union Army. At the center is Jo March (Winona Ryder), an idiosyncratic would-be writer said to be based on Alcott herself, but the film also focuses on the stories of her sisters -- the more conventional Meg (Trini Alvarado), the innocent Beth (Claire Danes), and the precocious Amy (Kirsten Dunst and Samantha Mathis, who represent Amy at different ages.) The film spans years, following the girls' struggles with life's challenges and illustrating how their family connection remains strong in the face of tragedies large and small. Australian director Gillian Armstrong emphasizes the story's feminist elements, particularly in Jo's journey to independence. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi
- Starring:
- Winona Ryder, Gabriel Byrne, (more)
- 1992
- R
Gillian Armstrong directed this quietly bittersweet and coldly ironic examination of the death throes of a crumbling marriage. Set in the lush summer light of Sydney, the film examines the dying marriage of Beth (Lisa Harrow), a middle-aged writer living with her French husband J.P. (Bruno Ganz) and her teenage daughter Annie (Miranda Otto). Beth and J.P. are maintaining their marriage through a delicate thread of disinterest and patronizing that is torn asunder with the arrival of Beth's younger sister Vicki (Kerry Fox). Along with the arrival of Vicki, Beth and J.P. take in a boarder, a clean-cut teen named Tim (Kiri Paramore). These two new additions to the family infuse the home with a new vitality, but that only holds the dissolution of the marriage in abeyance for a time. In an effort to make peace with her father (Bill Hunter), Beth takes him on a trip to the outback, where she believes she might be able to communicate with him. With Beth gone, J.P. and Vicki have an affair, and they abandon the family to start life on their own. Beth, now alone, feels a sense of liberation and purpose and begins to start her life anew. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lisa Harrow, Bruno Ganz, (more)
A Cuban woman who escapes to America finds herself in political, financial, and romantic jeopardy in this taut drama. Cuban refugee Isabel (Greta Scacchi) flees her country and makes her way to Miami after her husband, Nestor (Jimmy Smits), a political activist, is sentenced to a long stay in a Cuban jail. In their dangerous voyage to the United States, Isabel and her daughter are rescued by Sam (Vincent D'Onofrio), a fisherman from Miami; Sam helped Isabel find her way in her new home, and a romance blossoms between the two. However, when Nestor is finally released from prison eight years later and escapes to Miami to be with his wife, he discovers that Isabel's affections are now divided between himself and Sam, while his daughter barely remembers or recognizes him. Danger faces all three sides of this romantic triangle; Sam is asked to use his boat to smuggle Cuban dissidents into Miami, Nestor falls in with a radical fringe group hoping to stage an armed invasion of Cuba, and Isabel, who has become involved with a numbers racket, is in deep trouble after several massive payments were made to someone who never placed a bet. Fires Within was also shown under the title Little Havana; it premiered in Miami, appropriately enough, in its short-lived theatrical release. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Greta Scacchi, Jimmy Smits, (more)
- 1988
Though she has made quite a name for herself with theatrical films like My Brilliant Career, Australian director Gillian Anderson got her start making a documentary about three girls growing up in Adelaide. The first one followed them when they were fourteen, and it's titled Smokes and Lollies. The second one catches up with them at age eighteen, and it's titled 14's Good, 18's Better. After an interval of eight years, she has caught up with the three again in this documentary, and now they are young women, aged twenty-six. One girl has remained married to the fellow she married earlier but is showing signs of maturity and independence which were not evident in the two previous documentaries. The second has been married twice, but is now divorced, and is caring for her born-out-of-wedlock eleven-year old daughter quite nicely. The third never married but is engaged. Her wedding provides the culminating drama of this documentary. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- 1987
- PG13
Gillian Armstrong directed this powerful and moving film containing a brilliant performance by Judy Davis. The story takes place in the small New South Wales seaside village of Eden. Davis is Lillie, who is renting a run-down trailer as she waits for her car to be repaired. One night, when Lillie is drunk and cannot walk from the toilet block back to her trailer, a teenage girl, Ally (Claudia Karvan) -- who lives with her free-spirited grandmother Bet (Jan Adele) in another trailer in the trailer park -- helps her back home. Lillie and Ally become good friends, and it is only when Lillie finally meets Bet that she realizes that Ally is, in fact, her own daughter, who she abandoned years earlier after the death of her husband. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Judy Davis, Jan Adele, (more)
- 1986
Concert footage of both Dylan and Petty directed by Gillian Armstrong. ~ Rovi
- Starring:
- Bob Dylan, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, (more)
Based on a true story, Mrs. Soffel is set in Pittsburgh near the dawn of the 20th century. Peter Soffel (Edward Herrmann) is the warden of a top security prison, and his wife Kate (Diane Keaton) often comes by to read the Bible aloud to the inmates, despite her fragile health. While making her rounds, she makes the acquaintance of the Biddle Brothers, Ed (Mel Gibson) and Jack (Matthew Modine), who are sentenced to death for murder and robbery. Ed has become something of a celebrity thanks to his letter-writing campaign, in which he appeals in the letter-to-the-editor columns of the popular press to stay the execution of his brother and himself. His good looks, intelligence, and charm make a strong impression on Kate, whose marriage offers her little excitement. In time, Kate finds herself falling in love with Ed, and she discovers that she's unexpectedly receptive to his suggestion that she help him escape. Mrs. Soffel was the first American film from noted Australian filmmaker Gillian Armstrong. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Diane Keaton, Mel Gibson, (more)
Star Struck is a light, frothy pop-culture musical comedy from Australia, where Jackie (Jo Kennedy) dreams of becoming a singing star and her cousin Angus (Ross O'Donovan) thinks he has what it takes to be a successful manager. After a spot at the hip club in town (wearing a kangaroo suit) fails to win Jackie any paying gigs, Angus enters her in a major talent competition to be held on New Year's Eve. If Jackie wins, her career is assured, and the $25,000 grand prize will help keep her parents' cafe open. But can Jackie stand the pressure? Will the band get it together in time? And will Angus ever get a girl? Star Struck plays like a mid-1980s "New Wave" variation on an old "Let's Put On A Show!" teenage musical, with tunes by Phil Judd and Tim Finn of the popular New Zealand band Split Enz. Keep your eyes peeled for a bit part played by Geoffrey Rush, 14 years before he would win an Oscar for his work in Shine. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jo Kennedy, Ross O'Donovan, (more)
Both actress Judy Davis and director Gillian Armstrong made a big splash on the international scene with this charming Australian film that examines late 19th century Australian society from the perspective of a headstrong woman who refuses to follow convention. The film charts the developing self-awareness of Sybylla Melvyn (Judy Davis) as she grows from an insecure tomboy to a self-assured woman. Sybylla wants to be a writer and stuns her family and friends by her insistence on following her dream. Despite the objections of her family acquaintances, she rejects the marriage proposal from the rich Harry Beecham (Sam Neill) to continue going her own way, in spite of the odds stacked against her in a repressive Victorian environment. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Judy Davis, Sam Neill, (more)
- 1977
In this drama, an aging dancer observes the life of a star-struck younger woman. The older one sees herself in the girl and tries to help her avoid making the same mistakes. Unfortunately, the headstrong young woman refuses to listen and like the elder, finds herself entangled in a destructive situation from which there is no escape. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ruth Cracknell, Elizabeth Crosby, (more)
Rating Systems
Blockbuster
BLOCKBUSTER name, design and related marks are trademarks of Blockbuster L.L.C.
2013 Blockbuster L.L.C. All rights reserved.
Portions of Content Provided by Rovi Corporation. 2013 Rovi Corporation.