| An Angel at My Table | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Jane Campion |
| Screenplay by | Laura Jones |
| Based on | To the Is-Land (1982) An Angel at My Table (1984) The Envoy from Mirror City (1984) byJanet Frame |
| Produced by | John Maynard Bridget Ikin |
| Starring | Kerry Fox |
| Cinematography | Stuart Dryburgh |
| Edited by | Veronika Jenet |
| Music by | Don McGlashan |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Sharmill Films (Australia) Artificial Eye (United Kingdom) |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 158 minutes |
| Countries | New Zealand Australia United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Box office | NZ$569,000(New Zealand)[1] $1,054,638(US and Canada)[2] |
An Angel at My Table is a 1990biographical drama film directed byJane Campion. The film is based onJanet Frame's three autobiographies,To the Is-Land (1982),An Angel at My Table (1984), andThe Envoy from Mirror City (1984).[3] The film was very well received. It won awards at theNew Zealand Film and Television awards, theToronto International Film Festival, and second prize at theVenice Film Festival.[4]
Janet Frame is born in New Zealand'sSouth Island. During her youth, she develops an affinity for literature, writing poetry and readingGrimms' Fairy Tales. She graduates from primary school and goes to her localathenaeum. During her adolescence, Janet hangs out with her sisters Myrtle and Isabel and their friends Poppy and Marguerite. One afternoon, Janet stays behind while Myrtle goes swimming. That same day, her parents are alerted that Myrtle had drowned. She mourns her sister's death. Experiencing depression, Janet burns pages of her poetry she had written as a child.
As a young adult, Janet has become repressed and introverted. She studies at the university while she and Isabel stay with her Aunt Isy and Uncle George. By 1945, Janet is a teacher in training, but quits her vocation after a visit from an inspector. She obtains a doctor's certificate and works as a nurse, but decides to work as a writer. Sometime later, she attempts suicide after ingesting a pack ofaspirin. Her employers give her a leave of rest and Janet is admitted to the psychiatric ward. While under observation, Frame is diagnosed withschizophrenia.
Janet suffers another personal tragedy with the death of her sister Isabel, who drowned in the Picton Harbour. To cope with her sister's death, Janet turns to poetry and is admitted intoSunnyside Hospital, where she receives electroshock therapy. In 1951, while Frame is hospitalised, she publishes her first book,The Lagoon and Other Stories, a volume collection of short poetry. The book is awarded the Hubert Church Memorial Award. She is discharged and briefly stays with authorFrank Sargeson. There, her first novelOwls Do Cry is published.
In 1956, Janet leaves New Zealand and arrives inLondon on a literary grant. She briefly resides inIbiza, and shares her rental room with Bernhard, an American studying overseas, with whom she starts a romantic relationship. Their romance ends when Bernhard leaves when the summer semester ends. She finds herself pregnant with his child, but suffers a miscarriage. In 1958, she readmits herself into a psychiatric ward under the care of Dr. Cawley. He concludes that Janet was never a schizophrenic, but had suffered from the effects of prolonged hospitalisation. He recommends she writes about her experiences, to which Janet promptly writes another successful novelFaces in the Water. Impressed with her past success, her publisherMark Goulden suggests she writes a bestselling book.
Goulden resettles Janet toKnightsbridge, where she meets fellow authorsAlan andRuth Sillitoe. Shortly after, she receives a letter informing her that her father has died. She sails back to New Zealand, is interviewed by a local journalist, and resumes her writing.
An Angel at My Table was the first film fromNew Zealand to be screened at theVenice 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.[7] In addition to virtually sweeping the local New Zealand film awards, it also took home the prize for best foreign film at theIndependent Spirit Awards and the International Critics' Award at theToronto International Film Festival.[4] The film not only establishedJane Campion as an emerging director and launched the career ofKerry Fox, but it also introduced a broader audience toJanet Frame's writing.
Roger Ebert gave the film 4 out of 4 stars, stating; "[The film] tells its story calmly and with great attention to human detail and, watching it, I found myself drawn in with a rare intensity".[8] The film also received praise inThe Guardian where film criticDerek Malcolm called it "one of the very best films of the year".[9]TheSydney Morning Herald wrote, "Angel is a film where almost every image strikes the eye with the vividness of an inspired art composition: one where small incidents gain magical properties".[10]Variety said the film is "potentially painful and harrowing...imbued with gentle humor and great compassion, which makes every character come vividly alive".[11] In 2019, the BBC polled 368 film experts from 84 countries to name the 100 greatest films directed by women, withAn Angel at My Table voted at No. 47.[12]