User reviews

I am not one for love stories, but this one truly moved me. It is wonderfully strange! It's nothing like anything I've seen before. I loved the awkwardness of Oscar and Lucinda, and the way that we had a chance to see (at length} who they were before they ever met each other. It made their attraction to one another make sense (something so rare in cinematic romances).

I think this is Ralph Fiennes' best performance of his career, and he's proved his versatility. Compare his Oscar to his Count in The English Patient - completely different people, not even carrying themselves in the same way! This was a very good role for him. Cate Blanchett was really the standout for me; I took notice of her right away, and determined to keep an eye out for her future performances (she did a terrific job in the flawed "Elizabeth").

Of course, the film is beautifully made (I wouldn't expect anything less from Gillian Armstrong) and imaginative ... the way it depicts reality as almost surreal, and the surreal as quite real ... it's lovely.

On the one hand, this is a sad film, in that it's about two people who are just ... odd. They don't really fit in anywhere, and people don't understand them. Neither Oscar nor Lucinda are even anticipating (or aspiring) to be understood, and yet they find, and take comfort in, one another. Here is where the film turns from sad to joyful ... it is thrilling to see the surprise and delight they express as they discover that they have found their soulmates. I have to say that I found, in their story, a true (and hopeful) portrayal of love.

This beautifully made romance has an odd appeal. I only ranked it a seven, because it has some flaws - the complicated story is is not rendered clearly in all its details (I could not figure out what was going on with the Reverend Haslitt, for example) and the style tends towards a gothic/romantic manneredness in places.

All the same, I recommend it for anyone who can tolerate the genre. I love these two actors, Ralph Fiennes and Cate Blanchett. They and the supporting cast, including the bit parts, fill out their roles with life, warmth and poignancy. There are numerous evocative touches in the details of the production - the mysterious moving church in the opening scene, for example, the music, the costumes, and the sets. The story is unique, original, character-based, and there are some unexpected flashes of insight into human nature.

Do you like great acting? I mean something subtle where an actor's face is like an artist's brush or music by a fine composer. In this film Ralph Fiennes and Cate Blanchett are the virtuosos and they simply dazzled me with their talent.

The main story of Oscar and Lucinda is not very original, a tragic love story. The film does involve pre 1900 English characters that present some basic dilemmas of life. How strange the English of the 1800's seem today. Their repressed world can make an interesting contrast to the lives of free spirits and native cultures.

The dilemma Oscar and Lucinda gives us is that if we follow our feelings and obsessions, we will break away from many silly and confining customs. But such devotion to feeling taken too far can lead a person to commit hideous acts. Oscar and Lucinda goes to the heart of many of these conflicts which are also touched upon by the fine film, The Piano, and by the more obvious and superficial Sirens.

With such weighty issues, there is much hand wringing guilt by several characters. And all of that gets in the way of the love story which was alright with me but may bother some.

There are a few novelistic touches (why use the flashback technique a la Fried Green Tomatoes at all) that felt unnecessary. But these are minor points. The talented director Gillian Armstrong finely crafts many of the scenes and keeps the story moving. As a final dilemma, even though Western Civilization has tragically spoiled much of the beauty of the natural world, it has also created beautiful, finely acted films such as this.

The marketing for this film in America was absurd when compared to the real thing. I had seen the trailers, and as I am intrigued by anything with Ralph Fiennes, I took notice. However, the preview stressed an gambling-chance-obsessive fun aspect that I found less than compelling. Had the true soul and purpose of the movie come through in that two minute-long advert, I would have been hooked. As it was, I waited until it came out on video.

My expectations, coloured by this misleading trailer, were well exceeded. The film had to do with love and gambling, yes, but there were elements of faith, guilt, family, destiny and survival that were wholly ignored in the press. Ralph Fiennes is marvellous as a disheveled and uncertain faithful, with a boyish charm and utter purity that is difficult to portray without seeming slow-witted or unlikeable. Cate Blanchett, who has received a tremendous amount of notice for her recent portrayal of Elizabeth, is a fountain of strength, charm, capricious abandon, intelligence and sensuality. Like her minor role in _Paradise Road_, she steals scenes and breaks hearts with an undeniable charisma and resolve.

Set in Australia, the story is surprising, and ultimately shocking in its constrast of the ideal and the real. I was moved, and thoroughly impressed with this movie. This is a romance for those who are tired of the predictable, the trite and the overworked. The scenery is beautiful, and the direction is both soft and unflinching. A wonderful achievement.

--Salome

There are many films that are so controversial yet so beautiful, they appeal to only a select number of individuals. "Oscar & Lucinda" is one such triumph. It manages to border on heresy and yet sustain profoundness. Altogether a masterful piece of work from one of my favorite directors (Armstrong also filmed "Charlotte Gray," and "Little Women"), with an absolutely stunning, star-studded (before they were "big") cast.

You simply cannot comment on the film without considering the two leading cast members. Cate Blanchett is stunning here. She was beautiful, aloof, and impressive as "Elizabeth," but her role as the uncertain yet adventurous Lucinda is extremely memorable. Note her childish transformation into womanhood -- the discovery that not all tales have happy endings, that love eventually leads to sorrow. Her scenes with Ralph Fiennes literally crackle with intensity. These are two actors who manage to convince us they're not acting. The passion and devotion put into the role gives the film it's sparkle beyond the stunning cinematography and absolutely breathtaking musical score. Ralph Fiennes is rapidly becoming one of my favorite actors. He's extremely versatile and never shies away from challenging roles, whether it's a heartless Nazi in WWII, a Cambridge professor caught up in the throes of a quiz show scandal, or the impassioned Evgene Onegin. With "Oscar" we see him literally at his finest. The appropriately-nicknamed Academy Award should have been handed to him the day this sweet little Australian film premiered. His Oscar is passionate, guilt-ridden, complex, and utterly sweet. If you're not in tears by the end, you've not managed to give your heart over to one of the most fascinating literary characters ever created.

The sub-roles are all very good (Richard Roxburg in yet ANOTHER 'villainous' lead, but no one minds his untimely demise; Cirian Hinds in the upper-crust role of a minister shocked by his lady friend's gambling habits, even Geoffrey Rush as the unseen narrorator) and lend themselves to a highly romantic atmosphere. I love a slowly unfolding, deep love story but dislike superficial attachments. In the course of this film you believe Oscar & Lucinda actually get to know one another. They're involved in a series of "narrow hits and misses," which make the ending all the more tragic. They "connect" in a way other people cannot; in a world full of round holes, two square pegs make the perfect match.

The religious aspect of this film is also highly interesting. As a Christian myself, I regard anything bordering on heresy with wary suspicion. At first glance, the film borderlines on blasphemy, as Oscar so prudently considers in a key scene ("... unless it is blasphemy to consider mortal pleasure on the level of the divine!") when comparing eternal salvation to gambling ("It's all a gamble, isn't it?"), but if you take the time to explore it more fully, there are very realistic truths tucked in with the uncertainties. Oscar eventually does find Truth and clings to his beliefs to the bitter end. The rivalry between different denominations is also notable.

Older viewers seeking enthralling but not necessarily uplifting entertainment will find "Oscar & Lucinda" an excellent way to spend a couple of hours, particularly in a group. There is one scene of sexual content that is offensive (although clothed and necessary to the plot; for my own enjoyment, I always skip this provincial scene) but otherwise the film is surprisingly light in content. But it's a movie you shouldn't enter lightly. Out of the group of friends I showed it to one weekend, two out of five found it "depressing." But the rest of us were enthralled.

England, mid-19th century. Lucinda is a wealthy Australian heiress with a love of glass, resulting in her buying a glass factory. Oscar is a young Anglican priest. Both have a gambling addiction, though Oscar has been very successful with this pastime. Lucinda builds a church made entirely of glass and transports it to Australia. On the ship she meets Oscar, setting off a dramatic chain of events.

Good, but not great. Had massive potential - it was compelling viewing for the first 60% or so of the movie. But then it takes a rather random turn, a turn which should have just been a minor detour but becomes the ultimate plot line.

Great performance from Ralph Fiennes and a good one from Cate Blanchett. Good support from Ciaran Hinds.

I don't know what it is about Ralph Fiennes and Booker Prize-winning novels (like 1996's THE ENGLISH PATIENT), but this shows him to have a pretty good track record with them. This novel was extremely difficult to follow, but director Gillian Armstrong, who also did a good job with her adaptation of the more straightforward LITTLE WOMAN, cuts through the confusing storyline to make an entertaining and thoughtful film about gambling, religion, and, of course, love. She and writer Laura Jones can't quite defeat some of the overdone symbolism of the novel (like the glass church), but for the most part, this avoids the stateliness of many literary adaptations by being alive.

Fiennes took awhile to warm up for me as Oscar, because this is a more outwardly nervous character than he's ever played before, and the voice he uses takes getting used to as well. Once I got over that, I enjoyed his performance. But the real star here is Cate Blanchett as Lucinda; she is simply enchanting, and you can really see the fire in her eyes. The supporting cast is excellent as well.

"Oscar and Lucinda," made in 1997 by Gillian Armstrong, stars Ralph Fiennes and Cate Blanchett in the title roles. The film starts out one way and becomes something else, and then something else again - it's quite a saga, and very beautiful to look at.

Fiennes plays an Anglican minister, Oscar, who is a compulsive gambler. On a ship to Australia, which he took explicitly to get over his problem, he meets Lucinda (Blanchett), a free-thinking businesswoman who owns a glassworks factory. She, too, is a compulsive gambler. The two get together and start gambling, Fiennes justifying it by stating that faith is a gamble as well. After all, one stakes everything on the fact that there is a God.

The two arrive in Sydney, and Oscar finds himself down and out before he even starts. When he and Lucinda are caught playing cards, his ministry goes out the window. If Lucinda weren't so wealthy, she'd probably have to leave town, but she's tolerated. Upon arriving in Sydney, Oscar promptly wrecks his ministry before it even gets started when he's caught playing cards with his new friend. Oscar then makes a bet with Lucinda that he can deliver a church - made of glass - to her minister friend Hinds, which means it has to travel across the continent. If he can do it, it will be proof that he loves Lucinda.

The vision of the glass church going down the river alone makes this movie worthwhile - truly stunning.

Blanchett gives a beautiful performance, very organic. Fiennes is very good, just not quite as impressive as Blanchett. The narration is given by a great-grandchild of one of them - I won't say which one.

I found this an odd story, full of symbolism, and what a credit to the director that she was able to pull of the elements together. The very last scene in the film pulls it out of what could have been a real downer.

I can't say I loved it, but there are some wonderful elements in this movie. If you have a big screen TV, it is a glorious watch.

Here's a movie which appears to have a lot going for it: adaptation of a Booker Prize novel, directed by Gillian Armstrong, Ralph Fiennes straight from his triumph in the English Patient, and Cate Blanchett in her first significant role. I haven't read the novel -- and after seeing the movie I certainly won't. This is a strange story (whose plot I won't repeat for anyone wishing to be surprised) with characters that are completely unconvincing, despite the best efforts of Fiennes and Blanchett, in a story that might serve the fantastical imagination of certain directors. Gillian Armstrong is not one of those. Instead we are given a semi-realistic exposition of a tale that never inspires the suspension-of-disbelief necessary to put it across. Pay no attention to the names on the marquee. This is not a good movie, merely an odd one.

This is one of my favorite movies. Regular readers of my comments will wonder why I elevate it to my "must see" category

Part of the reason I want you to see it is because of how well it pairs with Cate's masterpiece, "Heaven." Now, that film can stand on its own as a transcendent cinematic experience. It easily shifts us from a "real" world into one more magical and over the course of the experience that distance increases.

It took Kieslowski's notion of cinematic distance and added the journey to that distance. It is one of the most important successful experiments in cinema and it owes much to the collaboration of Cate.

That reflects on this. A smaller project. A less ambitious director, but still with an affecting emotional directness. A pre-existing story that has literary strengths that become cinematic defects. And yet there is that same collaboration with the creating of an alternative magical reality fueled by obsession.

There is that same smooth slide from here to there. There is that same equating of wilderness (a Herzogian river) to the internal landscape. The same trigger of the gamble.

And also, there is the remarkable glass chapel. One shot has it moving down the river, but it seems as if it is floating through the trees. You are dead if that does not stick with you for years.

Alas, not much is made of a central image in the book — the tensed glass tears that explode when gently traced at their origin.

The major flaw is Fiennes. Both brothers have a sort of forehead acting style which unravels much of the subtleties of Cate's acting by breathing. But she is so breathtaking an actress in both these films, even though she is only the referent in the last part of this.

See the two films in one night. Any order.

Ted's Evaluation -- 4 of 3: Every cineliterate person should experience this.

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.

This was a beautifully original movie, deeply sad, with a mood almost reminiscent of Edward Scissorhands. Again, another example of Ralph Fiennes' versatility. I had thought I'd seen him at his best in The English Patient, but he has amazed me yet again. I was also impressed with Blanchett's performance, as this is the first time I have seen her. They make a believable, though very curious pair. A truly heart-wrenching film.

This film has shown that Australian filming industry has something to say. Almost everything is done with a lot of attention to detail. For instance, the plot is coherent and includes a great deal of figurative, meaningful scenes, for example water plays an important role as a symbol of life and cleansing all sins. As far as acting is concerned, I would give the highest note for that without a moment of hesitation. R. Fienes and company have done a lot of good work to show convincingly the hectic, unusual protagonists. If it comes to music, it enhances the power of the film, however it passes rather unnoticed. One thing I did not like is that this film depicts relations between white settlers and the natives in politically correct approach; namely the whites shoot indigenous people, rape them, do not respect their rituals, etc. I feel that this great theme of Australian cinema needs a bit of differentiation, things not always looked like that. Besides that little thing seeing, I consider this work as a masterpiece.

I'm very glad to see that others are discovering this widely overlooked film. Thank goodness for video stores. Though I didn't like the film as well as Peter Carey's splendid novel on which it's based, I think it a good and quite unusual movie. Deserves to be brought back to theaters.

This is a wonderfully good looking film with two strong performances from Ralph Fiennes ("Hopkins") and Cate Blanchett ("Lucinda"). The former is a bit of a loner being raised by his rather puritanical Pentecostal father. He absconds into the care of Anglican "Stratton" (Tom Wilkinson) who arranges for him to obtain an university education. Thing is, this brightly red haired lad doesn't really fit in, and is soon far more focussed on his rather effective system of gambling. Meantime, the latter, an Australian, has inherited a substantial fortune and invested it in a glass making factory (glass still being a bit of a luxury in 1850s Australia). When the two meet on a boat they realise that their isolation from society at large (and their fondness for a turn at the cards) gives them plenty in common and their relationship burgeons. When the two come up with a fairly outrageous wager between them - that they can build a church entirely of glass and ship it up-country to the remote town inhabited by preacher "Hassett" (Ciarán Hinds) the adventure elements hot up a little. The problem for me here, is that though the film looks lovely - and plenty of attention to detail has been payed to the costumes and general aesthetic, the story is really pretty weak. It tries to tackle issues of lonesomeness, religious bigotry and of the somewhat un-emancipated role of women in both Britain and Australia at the time, but somehow the thing never quite catches fire. It is paced very gently, and there are just too many characters to try to keep track of - the focus meanders a little too much, and the ending didn't make too much sense to me. I did quite enjoy watching it, and Blanchett is on good form - but I don't know that I would bother again.

The book was great - but the movie, not so great... One of the biggest points of the book was Lucinda's love of her glassworks, which the filmmakers didn't find so important - AND they changed the ending, on which the whole book balances. I couldn't believe it.

Despite the story problems, Cate Blanchett and Ralph Fiennes were excellent.

Odd, unique, beautifully photographed character study/love story.

Two eccentrics, one the rich owner of a glass-works (Cate Blanchette), and one an emotionally damaged and physically fragile young minister (Ralph Fiennes) are united in friendship, and eventually romance by their obsession with gambling.

Blanchette is luminous and wonderful. Fiennes pushes at times, going right up to the edge and occasionally over it with his tics and quirks, but he's ultimately very deeply effecting.

A strange mix of tones, comic, romantic; it behaves both like an epic and a parody of one. But it has never failed to move me, and it's full of moments where the beautiful imagery dances so well with Thomas Newman's delicate score that I get a shiver.

What do those of us who loathe the film want? How about a credible lead character? Instead of a compulsive gambler who never loses. I find Lucinda's love for Oscar completely unbelievable. Lucinda's character is underdeveloped in the script, but played all-out by Cate Blanchett. She and the scenery (crossing Australia and the church on the river) are the only redeeming features of an atrociously bad movie.

Based on Australian novelist, Peter Carey's award-winning book, Oscar and Lucinda, this is a faithful period piece about iconoclasts and their attempt to find love and purpose in strait-laced society despite their fears and obsessions.

Ralph Fiennes and Cate Blanchett have glorious, quirky chemistry in the title roles. Ralph Fiennes is such a mercurial actor that while watching this film, it's hard to believe this is the same man that played Amon Goeth in Schindler's List and Charles Van Doren in Quiz Show.

Cate Blanchett was discovered by Director Shekhar Kapur and awarded the title role in Elizabeth as a result of her natural, unforced acting in this little-seen Gillian Armstrong film. Brilliantly adapted, visually stunning, and (above all) extremely well-acted this is a film that it would be sad to miss.