A man in his forties, David, stumbles into a wine bar after getting lost one night in driving rain. Although he is wildly eccentric, David charms the bar''s owner who, impressed with his brilliant skills as a pianist, gives him a regular job playing at her bar. David''s impromptu performance is, in fact, the first time he has been at a piano after more than a decade of obscurity.

Inspired by this, he is transported back to his childhood in which everything seemed to revolve around the piano. Based on the ultimately triumphant life of classical pianist David Helfgott, "Shine" focuses on Helfgott''s painful retreat into a private world while still in his early 20''s and on the brink of a glittering international career. Spanning the 1950''s to the 1980''s, "Shine" dramatizes the deeply moving way in which Helfgott, after a decade of obscurity, achieves both personal and professional fulfillment through the love and support of a remarkable woman.

Directed by
Scott Hicks

Cast
Lynn Redgrave - Gillian
Geoffrey Rush - David Helfgott as an Adult
Googie Withers - Katharine Susannah Prichard
Marta Kaczmarek - Rachel Helfgott
Nicholas Bell - Ben Rosen
Sonia Todd - Sylvia
Beverley Dunn - Beryl Alcott
Rebecca Gooden - Margaret Helfgott
Justine Braine - Tony
Randall Berger - Isaac Stern
Maria Dafnero - Sonia

Production Co.
Momentum Films Inc

Produced by
Jane Scott

Studio
New Line Cinema

Writer
John MacGregor
Katherine Susannah Prichard
Jan Sardi
Scott Hicks

Music
David Hirschfelder