An Angel at My Table (1991)

Absolutely Fantastic

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

In 1920s and 1930s New Zealand, Janet Frame grows up in a poor family with lots of brothers and sisters. Already at an early age she is different from the other kids. She gets an education as a teacher but since she is considered abnormal she stays at a mental institution for eight years."An Angel at My Table" was the first film from New Zealand to be screened at the Venice Film Festival, where it received multiple standing ovations and was awarded the Grand Special Jury Prize despite evoking yells of protest that it did not win The Golden Lion. I respect that this was the film that really got New Zealand on the film map, but beyond that...At no point did I care for the heroine. I feel like they exaggerated the main character's hair and appearance to the point where it was humorous and just not believable. I don't know Janet Frame, but nothing about this film made me want to go out and read her books.

I loved this movie! i saw it in 1991 in Amsterdam while on vacation in a little dingy movie house that sold beer and it had dutch subtitles so it was quite an emotional and memorable feeling all the way around. I remember falling in love with everything about it. so heart wrenching. Some of the best acting i have ever seen.All of the performances are amazing, but Kerry Fox should have won an Oscar! She was nothing short of brilliant. The little chubby red head girl (Alexia Keogh) was also outstanding and i was surprised no, shocked seeing she has no other credits on IMDb. She was better than any child star working in Hollywood today.There are moments in the film that transcend motion picture film-making. Jane Campion is a serious artist as was Frame and it's truly a shame that so few people seem to know about it judging from the few user comments. I consider this film true cinematic art. I remember leaving the theater with my friend and not being able to speak it moved us so much. It haunted me in a way no film ever has before. Maybe it was being in Amserdam? Maybe it was the beer? No, it was the film.

"An Angel at My Table" (New Zealand, 1990): It's been three years since I've last watched this film. There is NO further reason to wonder if it should be in my "top" category. It is created by Jane Campion from the writer Janet Frame's autobiographies of her harrowing life. We join Janet during childhood, move through the teenage years and into adulthood, as she struggles for a place - ANY place - in the world...but deep down, writing is her one reliable love. Three actresses were needed for the role of Janet, and all do wonderful jobs, especially depicting someone who always feels on the outside, and longs to be included. Jane Campion, one of my favorite film makers, presents a powerful, subdued, and melancholy work of Art. It is not an amazing film due to every camera shot or the quality of sound recording… THIS work is great for its acting, and its story telling. It has as much emotion as one heart can hold for 157 minutes.

Slow start, great finish. Since I saw this on video I fast forwarded through a lot of the first sections. In much of the first 2/3's many scenes were so quick and enigmatically done that I wasn't sure what was happening or who the people were. Many other scenes were so drawn out and slow I was bored. I don't know why I slogged through it, but once it got to the adult portion it was fascinating and very moving.From what I have seen on Jane Campion movies, she is much more visual than dialogue-based. Wonderful to watch, but often confusing.