Editing An Angel at My Table

{{Short description|1990 film by Jane Campion}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = An Angel at My Table
| image          = Angel_at_my_table_movie_poster.jpg
| screenplay     = [[Laura Jones (screenwriter)|Laura Jones]]
| based_on       = {{Based on|''To the Is-Land'' (1982)<br>''An Angel at My Table'' (1984)<br>''The Envoy from Mirror City'' (1984)|[[Janet Frame]]}}
| starring       = [[Kerry Fox]]
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Jane Campion]]
| producer       = John Maynard<br />[[Bridget Ikin]]
| music          = [[Don McGlashan]]
| cinematography = [[Stuart Dryburgh]]
| editing        = [[Veronika Jenet]]
| studio         = [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation|ABC]]<br />[[Television New Zealand]]<br />[[Channel 4]]<br />Hibiscus Films
| distributor    = Sharmill Films (Australia)<br />[[Artificial Eye]] (United Kingdom)
| released       = {{Film date|1990|9|5|[[Venice Film Festival]]|1990|9|20|Australia|df=y}}
| country        = New Zealand<br />Australia<br />United Kingdom
| runtime        = 158 minutes
| language       = English
| budget         = 
| gross          = NZ$569,000 {{small|(New Zealand)}}<ref name=gross>{{cite magazine|title=Top Fourteeen New Zealand Movies Released in New Zealand|url=https://issuu.com/libuow/docs/cinemapaper1994aprno097-098|access-date=7 August 2022|issue=97–98|magazine=Cinema Papers|date=April 1994|pages=15}}</ref><br>$1,054,638 {{small|(US and Canada)}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=angelatmytable.htm|title=An Angel at My Table (1991)|work=[[Box Office Mojo]]|publisher=[[Amazon.com]]|access-date=9 October 2011}}</ref>
}}

'''''An Angel at My Table''''' is a 1990 [[Biographical film|biographical drama film]] directed by [[Jane Campion]]. The film is based on [[Janet Frame]]'s three autobiographies, ''To the Is-Land'' (1982), ''An Angel at My Table'' (1984), and ''The Envoy from Mirror City'' (1984).<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Hunter |last=Cordaiy |title=An Angel at My Table |magazine=Cinema Papers |date=November 1990 |pages=32–36 |url=https://archive.org/details/issuu_libuow_cinemapaper1990decno081/page/n33/mode/2up |access-date=7 October 2024}}</ref> The film was very well received. It won awards at the [[New Zealand Film and Television awards]], the [[Toronto International Film Festival]], and second prize at the [[Venice Film Festival]].<ref name="NZ">{{cite web|url=http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/an-angel-at-my-table-1990-0e1/background#critique_0|title=Background - An Angel at My Table - Film |publisher=NZ On Screen |access-date=8 January 2018}}</ref>

==Plot==
[[Janet Frame]] is born in New Zealand's [[South Island]]. During her youth, she develops an affinity for literature, writing poetry and reading [[Grimms' Fairy Tales]]. She graduates from primary school and goes to her local [[Public library|athenaeum]]. 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 of [[aspirin]]. Her employers give her a leave of rest and Janet is admitted to the psychiatric ward. While under observation, Frame is diagnosed with [[schizophrenia]].

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 into [[Sunnyside 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 author [[Frank Sargeson]]. There, her first novel ''[[Owls Do Cry]]'' is published. 

In 1956, Janet leaves New Zealand and arrives in [[London]] on a literary grant. She briefly resides in [[Ibiza]], 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 novel ''Faces in the Water''. Impressed with her past success, her publisher [[Mark Goulden]] suggests she writes a bestselling book. 

Goulden resettles Janet to [[Knightsbridge]], where she meets fellow authors [[Alan Sillitoe|Alan]] and [[Ruth Fainlight|Ruth 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. 

==Cast==
* [[Kerry Fox]] as Janet Frame (adult)
** Alexia Keogh as Janet Frame (child)
** Karen Fergusson as Janet Frame (teenager)
* Iris Churn as Mother
* [[Kevin J. Wilson]] as Father
* Melina Bernecker as Myrtle
* Glynis Angell as Isabel
* Mark Morrison as Bruddie Frame (child)
* Sarah Llewellyn as June Frame (child)
* Natasha Gray as Leslie
* Brenda Kendall as Miss Botting
* [[Martyn Sanderson]] as [[Frank Sargeson]]

==Awards==
* [[New Zealand Film and TV Awards]] (1990):<ref name=NZ/>
** Best Cinematography: Stuart Dryburgh
** Best Director: [[Jane Campion]]
** Best Film
** Best Performance in Supporting Role: [[Martyn Sanderson]]
** Best Female Performance: [[Kerry Fox]]
** Best Screenplay: Laura Jones
* [[Toronto International Film Festival]] (1990):<ref name=NZ/>
** International Critics Award: [[Jane Campion]]
* [[Valladolid International Film Festival]] (1990):<ref name="NZ" />
** Best Actress: [[Kerry Fox]]
* [[Venice Film Festival]] (1990)<ref name=NZ/>
** Elvira Notari Prize: [[Jane Campion]]
** Filmcritica "Bastone Bianco" Award: [[Jane Campion]]
** [[Grand Jury Prize (Venice Film Festival)|Grand Special Jury Prize]]: [[Jane Campion]]
** Little Golden Lion Award: [[Jane Campion]]
** OCIC Award: [[Jane Campion]]
* [[Belgian Syndicate of Cinema Critics]] (UCC) (1992):<ref>{{Cite web |title=BELGIAN FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION: Grand Prix Honours List – Movie List |url=https://mubi.com/lists/grand-prix-honours-list-of-the-belgian-film-critics-association |access-date=11 March 2022 |website=[[MUBI]] |language=en}}</ref>
** [[Grand Prix (Belgian Syndicate of Cinema Critics)|Grand Prix]]
* [[Chicago Film Critics Association]] (CFCA) (1992):<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 January 2013 |title=1988-2013 Award Winner Archives |url=https://chicagofilmcritics.org/awards-blog/archives |access-date=11 March 2022 |website=[[Chicago Film Critics Association]] |language=en-US}}</ref>
** CFCA Award: Best Foreign Language Film
* [[Independent Spirit Awards]] (1992)<ref name=NZ/>
** Best Foreign Film: [[Jane Campion]]

==Impact and reception==
{{Quote box
| quote = "If [[Carson McCullers]] and [[David Lynch]] had run into [[Mary Cassatt]] somewhere in the green pastures of New Zealand, a film like ''An Angel at My Table'' might well have been the outcome."
| author = Mariam Niroumand
| source = [[Cinéaste (magazine)|''Cinéaste'']] vol. 18, no. 4, 1991<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Niroumand |first=Mariam |date=1991 |title=An Angel at My Table |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41687129 |journal=Cinéaste |volume=18 |issue=4 |pages=49–50 |issn=0009-7004}}</ref>
| align = right
| width = 375px
}}
''An Angel at My Table'' was the first film from [[New Zealand]] to be screened at the [[Venice 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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Campion |first=Jane |author-link=Jane Campion |date=19 January 2008 |title=Jane Campion recalls her encounters with Janet Frame |url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/jan/19/fiction5 |access-date=11 March 2022 |website=[[The Guardian]] |language=en}}</ref> In addition to virtually sweeping the local New Zealand film awards, it also took home the prize for best foreign film at the [[Independent Spirit Awards]] and the International Critics' Award at the [[Toronto International Film Festival]].<ref name="NZ" /> The film not only established [[Jane Campion]] as an emerging director and launched the career of [[Kerry Fox]], but it also introduced a broader audience to [[Janet 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".<ref>{{cite news |author=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |date=21 June 1991 |title=An Angel at My Table |newspaper=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/an-angel-at-my-table-1991 |access-date=3 February 2010}}</ref> The film also received praise in ''[[The Guardian]]'' where film critic [[Derek Malcolm]] called it "one of the very best films of the year".<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Quotes - An Angel at My Table - Film - NZ on Screen |url=https://www.nzonscreen.com/title/an-angel-at-my-table-1990-0e1/quotes |access-date=11 March 2022 |website=www.nzonscreen.com |language=en}}</ref> ''The [[The Sydney Morning Herald|Sydney 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".<ref>{{Cite web |title=An Angel at my Table - Review - Photos - Ozmovies |url=https://www.ozmovies.com.au/movie/angel-at-my-table |access-date=11 March 2022 |website=www.ozmovies.com.au}}</ref> ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' said the film is "potentially painful and harrowing...imbued with gentle humor and great compassion, which makes every character come vividly alive".<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=31 December 1989 |title=Film Review: 'An Angel at My Table' |url=https://variety.com/1989/film/reviews/an-angel-at-my-table-1117788722/ |access-date=11 March 2022 |website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2019, the BBC polled 368 film experts from 84 countries to name the 100 greatest films directed by women, with ''An Angel at My Table'' voted at No. 47.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=The 100 greatest films directed by women |url=https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20191125-the-100-greatest-films-directed-by-women-poll |access-date=17 March 2022 |website=BBC Culture}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{IMDb title|0099040}}
* {{TCMDb title|67350}}
* [http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/an-angel-at-my-table-1990-0e1 NZ On Screen page]
* [http://www.ozmovies.com.au/movie/angel-at-my-table ''An Angel at My Table''] at Oz Movies
* [https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/771-an-angel-at-my-table-alone-naturally ''An Angel at My Table: Alone, Naturally''] an essay by [[Amy Taubin]] at the [[Criterion Collection]]
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|angel_at_my_table}}

{{Jane Campion}}
{{Navboxes
|title = Awards for ''An Angel at My Table''
|list =
{{Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film}}
{{Independent Spirit Award for Best International Film}}
{{Venice Film Festival Grand Jury Prize}}
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Angel At My Table}}
[[Category:1990 films]]
[[Category:1990s New Zealand films]]
[[Category:1990 drama films]]
[[Category:1990 independent films]]
[[Category:1990s biographical drama films]]
[[Category:1990s coming-of-age drama films]]
[[Category:1990s feminist films]]
[[Category:Australian biographical drama films]]
[[Category:Australian independent films]]
[[Category:Biographical films about writers]]
[[Category:British biographical drama films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Jane Campion]]
[[Category:Films set in New Zealand]]
[[Category:Films shot in New Zealand]]
[[Category:Independent Spirit Award for Best Foreign Film winners]]
[[Category:New Zealand biographical drama films]]
[[Category:Venice Grand Jury Prize winners]]
[[Category:Works by Janet Frame]]
[[Category:1990s English-language films]]
[[Category:Films about sisters]]
[[Category:Films about puberty]]
[[Category:1990s British films]]
[[Category:Films set in psychiatric hospitals]]
[[Category:Films about depression]]
[[Category:Films scored by Don McGlashan]]
[[Category:English-language biographical drama films]]
[[Category:English-language independent films]]