Shine is a moving story that is based on David Helfgott an Australian pianist. It is a moving story with its main themes being redemption and love. These are present in a way that is certainly appealing to sentimentalists and romantics. Just like it is with most bibliographical films, various events were altered to create to create a very dramatic movie. Helfgott noted that the movie depicts most events as the occurred but there are a few misrepresentations such as the depiction of Helfgott’s father. With it represents the true facts or not the movie carries a very entertaining and emotion packed story. The movie is remarkable and is certain to affect viewer on several levels. It is very painful to watch how the relationship between a bully father and his son (Stratton, 1996). The father is very unsympathetic to the littlie boy and seem to be suffering form wound inflicted on him during how own childhood. The total control that he exercises on his son is a product of his effort to make up for what he missed as a child due to his fathers insecurity. Certainly, the mover has numerous psychological implications that shall be analyzed in this essay.
The open while a David Helfgott (Geoffrey Rush) is roaming through a very heavy rainstorm and ends up at a restaurant. The restaurant owner asks whether he needs help. She learns that he is hefgott and he is staying at a local hotel. She takes him back to the hotel and leaves him uninterested in his stories of musical success and knowledge (Hicks, 1996).
Through a flash back the viewers are shown Hefgott’s childhood. He is tough music by his father who is too demanding and has not room for failure. He further takes no disobedience form his Son. David Hefgott is noticed by Mr. Rosen who take over from his further to teach him music. He wins state championship and is invited to study in America. His father forbids him to leave as he believes his departure might have negative effects to the family (Hicks, 1996). Despite the disappointment he boy continues to study and befriend a local novelist. Later, as his musical talent grows and become acknowledged, David gets a scholarship to study in London, Royal College of Music. His further tries to stop him for taking the scholarship with little success and as a result disowns him.
In London, he participates in Concerto competition, where he performs the most difficult piece and wins but suffers a mental breakdown resulting into an admission at a psychiatric hospital where he is given electrical shock therapy. He recover though not full but is able to travel back home where his father rejects him and he is readmitted to a mental institution due to relapses (Hicks, 1996). A volunteer who recognizes his talent takes home but ends up dumping him in a hotel room when she realized how uncontrollable he is and how it is expensive to take care of him. Life outside the mental institution is qute different and often finds him self wondering away from the hotel quite often.
When he returns to the restaurant the patrons are astounded by his ability to play the piano. One of the restaurant owners befriends him and he gets to play the piano at the restaurant frequently. Through the restaurant owner, he gets introduced to Gillian whom he later marries. She helps him come to terms with the death of his father and return to professional music (Hicks, 1996).
The move touches on various psychological issues. The most prominent psychological issue theme depicted in the movie is the effect of parent child relationship on the growth of the child. David’s father peter had been brought up be an entirely domineering and inconsiderate father. Peter places family above everything else and aims at keeping his family close to himself (Ebert, 1996). This is probably a product of the lose he suffered during the holocaust. He is a Jew who lost most of his family member to the holocaust while he was still a child. He missed out on many things in his childhood and this had a negative impact on his development. When he got a son of his own, the impact of his childhood largely influenced the way he related with him. Peter became so commanding and reigned over his family in a dictatorial manner. He decided what his son did and what he was not supposed to do. For instance, he stops him from going to America to study and he obliges without very unnoticeable resistance (Maddox, 1996). However, when he stops him from going to study in London and David fails to follow his instruction, Peter disowns him and even at the time of his return despite being mentally ill his Peter totally rejects him. He is admitted to a mental institution until someone else picks him up. His main aim of preventing his son from taking the scholarship is to keep his family intact
The mental brake down suffered by David is most likely a product of his relationship with his father. Having been domineered and treated as not having a will of his own, David certainly desired a day when he would be independent. This frustration together with the loss of his father negative affected his mental health.
David seems to have gone mad and can not be controlled. It seems he belongs to a mental institution. However, with the help of his wife he is able to recover. Indeed, a little bit of understanding can be very useful in helping people with mental breakdown. Encouragement from a second party boosts a person’s morale to take on various issues and strive for personal achievement. For instance, it took encouragement to have him go to London to study music and perform at a concert in London as well. Further, more it too an understanding company of his wife to help him overcome his mental brake down and the loss of his father. This is a clear indication that people are psychologically shaped by the environment in which the live and the kind of relationship the have with other people around them (Ebert, 1996).
In sum, the environment in which one grows affects their psychological development greatly the movie clearly illustrates this through the effect of Peters childhood to his adulthood. Peter having had a non-enticing relationship with his own father grow to become vary domineering. He become very attached to his family and wants it to stay intact. This is like a product of the loss of many of his family member during the holocaust. As a result of his controlling behavior and lack of compromise he disowns his son who later suffers a mental brake down due to the frustration he undergoes. However, good company and understanding is very important in assisting those with mental issues. David manages to recover from the mental breakdown through the help of his wife. The encouragement he receives from his wife makes him go back to professional music where he excels. Certainly, the company David get form his wife and the other women who encourage him is different for his father company. His father never encouraged him but demanded that he does as instructed to do.