Film Summary Of The Film 'Exposition To Shine'

In the exposition to Shine, we have a strong sense of the dominance of David Helfgott's father in David's early life. Our sympathies almost certainly lie with David. How does the director, Scott Hicks, achieve this? From the up-close-and-personal scenes with the adult David at the beginning of the film, our attention is focused on him. When Hicks takes us back to David's childhood, we are aware that David is the focus but Peter Helfgott's presence is stifling. He dominates every scene. Hicks conveys this dominance through the use of audio, symbolic, technical and written codes.

Audio codes include dialogue, sound effects and music. Through these codes Hicks establishes the relationship between father and son. The dialogue demonstrates Peter
The juxtaposition of shots of the two homes highlights the difficulties David will have as he moves between these two contrasting worlds.

Written codes in the exposition to Shine include the title of the film and the opening credits. The sounds of a storm in the background, combined with the white on black presentation of the opening credits, create a serious mood. This seriousness dominates the exposition but the word Shine remains in our memories. When will the sun shine for David. Will his father let him grow?

The exposition to Shine does not provide an affectionate portrait of Peter Helfgott. Hicks instils in our minds the child-like vulnerability of the adult David as the film opens and then shows us the powerless position of that same person as child. He starts to flesh out the father whose "daddy was very religious, very strict - but then got exterminated". Peter Helfgott's own story would be an extremely poignant and harrowing one, but it is not the focus of the story that Hicks tells. Our sympathies lie with David because he is the child, he is the one we see being pushed around, he is the one who might be crushed like a grasshopper, broken like his father's