An angel at my table (1990)

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With An Angel at My Table, Academy Award-winning filmmaker Jane Campion brought to the screen the harrowing autobiography of Janet Frame, New Zealand's most distinguished author. Three actors in turn take on the lead role (including Kerry Fox in a marvelous performance as the adult Frame), as the film describes a journey from an impoverished childhood marked by tragedy to a misdiagnosis of schizophrenia resulting in electroshock therapy and a narrowly escaped lobotomy to, finally, international literary fame. Unobtrusively capturing the beauty and power of the New Zealand landscape while maintaining the film's focus on the figure at it's center, Campion broke new ground for female filmmakers everywhere and earned a sweep of her country's film awards, along with the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival.

'An angel at my table' is the internationally acclaimed second film by Oscar-winning director Jane Campion ('The Piano', 'Portrait Of A Lady', 'Holy Smoke'). It is an extraordinarily moving celebration of the life of Janet Frame, New Zealand's most distinguished author, based on her autobiographical trilogy. The film follows Janet through her poor childhood in the depression and her growing fascination with literature; her painfully shy student days and subsequent treatment for misdiagnosed schizophrenia; and finally on her travels to Europe where she samples Bohemian life and achieves international success as a writer. Kerry Fox ('Intimacy', Shallow Grave') is outstanding in the leading role of the adult Janet.