An Angel at My Table (1990)

Jane Campion's "An Angel at My Table" is a superbly competent biography of New Zealand writer Janet Frame. Frame, who suffered the death of two siblings as a child, was wrongly diagnosed as mentally ill. She was institutionalised for eight years and received over two hundred shock therapy treatments. Sharing like themes with "Sweetie" (Campion's first feature which I highly recommend), both films deal with emotionally driven misfits. I admire the fundamental narrative, as oppose to the oversentimental maudliness of a televised mini-series. In fact, the American theatrical version is an editing of such programming. I would have preferred seeing the longer version, because some parts are brief and required further explanation. Kerry Fox is magnificently capital as the older Frame. I did not realise, until an IMBD inquiry, she was the female lead in "Shallow Grave". Overall, Frame's life is compelling drama and Campion's portrayal is intelligent. 3 out of 4 stars.

Fmovies: I watched this story years ago and discovered the youth of Janet Frame and i was glad at the beginning. The beginning where we can see Janet as a little girl is full of life and animated.The little red-haired actress is funny with her hair and malice even if she has bad times at school especially with her teacher who punishes her for stealing money..We can see that Janet is oppressed and has no friends..So sad but she keeps her good mood and discovers books and literature and soon develops a passion for books and poems..then she is an adolescent and loves writing poems and studying but her life is marred by two tragedies ,the death of two of her siblings in a horrible way.She begins to change and feel depressed with maybe a feeling of guilt..Then in the next part Janet grew up and is a young adult portrayed by Kerry fox but things are getting complicated.Janet must work and begins to teach but she is awfully shy ,in a sick way and she has outbursts of anguish.Unfortunately she will be admitted in a psychiatrist ward and stay there for 8 years totally cut off from the outside world and considered like an abnormal person but she will continue to write which will save her. After this time i got bored of this film because it was too long and the character of Janet is quite lonely which made me think of a pathological woman ,unable to communicate and almost autistic. I think that this movie is sincerely too long and 30 minutes less would have been enough with a good end because the end is difficult to understand.It isn't a family movie neither like an entertainment but a study of character ,a psychological movie with oppressive moments.

In the ambitious follow-up to her celebrated debut feature 'Sweetie' Jane Campion presents yet another social misfit at odds with an unsympathetic world, drawing her inspiration this time from the autobiography of Janet Frame, a New Zealand writer who suffered eight years of electro-shock therapy after being misdiagnosed for schizophrenia. The film is structured in the form of a triptych, with the best moments (perhaps not surprisingly) all clustered in the first episode, showing the young Frame's childhood in a poor but literate household, always at the mercy of adult authority: teachers, doctors, and so forth. These early scenes aren't exactly meant to set a cheerful mood, but they look positively giddy compared to the rest of the film, the length of which eventually overwhelms its subject: watching the drab and lonely life of a painfully shy, pathetically insecure, repressed and introverted writer unfold over 158 minutes can be an oppressive experience. Campion's unique visual style is never less than interesting, but her technique of using sudden blackouts to separate short, seemingly unrelated fragments of narrative memory only underscores the difficulty of capturing on film the creative process of a writer.

An Angel at My Table fmovies. For some people, "An Angel At My Table' would be a VERY long sit-through. The story of one of New Zealand's most famous authors, who succeeds despite having gone through schizophrenia isn't exactly family entertainment. But although the movie runs far too long, at 2 and a half hours, I found myself engaged quite a bit as soon as the story got moving, and not a relentless character study. Janette Frame, a girl with a serious shock of red hair, grows up, realizing her passion for writing, and suffers tremendous setbacks, both emotionally and professionally. What a performance the three actresses give as Janette, we see Janette as a young girl, a teenager, and as a young adult. Although Kerry Fox is the most well known of all three, all three are tremendous here, each taking the nuances of Frame, and developing the character beautifully. As per the case of all Jane Campion's films, she knows how to frame the camera quite well, and again, although the movie IS long, it does have a lot of amazing little moments

"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 recordingÂ… THIS work is great for its acting, and its story telling. It has as much emotion as one heart can hold for 157 minutes.

I think this film is another fine example of Kiwi talent! Some incredibly original literature, film, television, and acting talent originates from the island nation of New Zealand. "An Angel At My Table" is one of the great examples. The first time I saw this film (or tele-film) I was left emotionally affected by Janet Frame's life. I could not believe how easy it was for someone to be treated the way she was just because she was shy, socially awkward and had curly, red hair. How times have changed! Nowadays if you are not a freak ... you are a freak! It is scary to think how easy it was, apparently at that time, for a person to be thrown into a madhouse. Not to mention the deplorable conditions of those types of institutions.

Initially, I felt sorry for Ms. Frame but then I realized she probably has had a fuller life than I have had (or probably ever will). She has accomplished so much and given pleasure to the many who have read her stories and poetry. Watching this film has prompted me to begin looking for her writings since I have been so intrigued by her story. I was glad to see that by the end of the movie she had begun to become comfortable with herself and open her shell. Biographical information on Ms. Frame seems sketchy. I have not found much information about her life after the period where the film ended.

Thank you Jane Campion for another wonderful character driven film (albeit a real-life character this time)! The only real criticism I have of the film is the portrayal of Frame's time in the institution. While the film did not make it pretty nor gloss over the situation in general, sources I have read indicate Janet was dangerously close to receiving an operation that seems similar to a lobotomy. The operation, if performed, would have left Janet an emotionless, child-like creature and was not adequately depicted. But for the grace of her publication, she was saved.