Oscar and Lucinda . Nashville Scene . 08-03-98

Oscar and Lucinda

DIRECTED BY: Gillian Armstrong

REVIEWED: 08-03-98

It's criminal how the success or visibility of a movie depends so much on a release date. Oscar and Lucinda, directed by the acclaimed Gillian Armstrong, would seem to have been a natural for arthouse success; but it was released sporadically at the end of 1997 for Oscar consideration, then limped into a few theaters at the start of 1998 while critics were preoccupied with Titanic, As Good As It Gets, and Good Will Hunting. And just what did the zeitgeist miss? A poignant, haunting period tale of unrequited romance, wherein a gambling-addicted Anglican minister (Ralph Fiennes) wagers that he can transport a glass church across the Australian outback to prove his devotion to a wayward Sidney socialite. The film's novelistic origins are betrayed by some loose ends and awkward subplots, but what sticks with the viewer is the way the plot twines across decades without ever losing the intimate detail. Also memorable is Fiennes, whose apologist rants about the divinity of gambling transform his reedy, nervous character into a spiritual dynamo.

--Noel Murray

Full Length Reviews
Oscar and Lucinda
Oscar and Lucinda
Oscar and Lucinda
Oscar and Lucinda

Capsule Reviews
Oscar and Lucinda
Oscar and Lucinda

Other Films by Gillian Armstrong
Little Women

Film Vault Suggested Links
Ever After: A Cinderella Story
Beautiful Thing
Carried Away

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