Oscar and Lucinda (1997)

People are voting emotionally.

best movie i've ever seen.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

It's the 19th century New South Wales, Australia. Oscar Hopkins rebels against his strict father as a child and runs away to Anglican priest Hugh Stratton (Tom Wilkinson). He studies to be a priest in England. He (Ralph Fiennes) is always an outsider to his classmates. He doesn't fit and is addicted to gambling. Lucinda Leplastrier (Cate Blanchett) receives a large inheritance which she uses to buy a glass factory in Sydney. They both find themselves as outsiders in society. They are both avid gamblers and transport a glass church to Revered Dennis Hasset (Ciarán Hinds) in a remote settlement.These are two stellar performances of oddball characters. The flow of the story does jump around a bit. The narrative is somewhat disjointed which is usually due to trying to squeeze a novel down to a movie. Once the two leads get together, it's a fascinating combination. These are also such odd unconventional characters. Oscar is a tightly wound ball of neuroses. Lucinda is much better by comparison and is really a woman looking for liberation. The differing views on gambling is weirdly compelling. The performances and the strange situations add together for a fascinating movie.

First things first, Cate Blanchett and Ralph Fiennes are water and air for the world's film industry as we know it. Very few actors working today can stand side by side with them when it comes down to the Nitty-Gritty of acting chutzpa! So when reviewing a film in which they both starred, with a fine director, fine script and cinematography, it's very hard not to want to get that out of the way first. It's also very hard trying to put into words how well they did justice to this film. It was breathtaking (especially the floating church scene), it was heartbreaking, it was bittersweet, it was beautiful, it was thought provoking, it was marvelous, it was well narrated, it was well acted, it was well directed, it was picturesque!Oscar and Lucinda (Fiennes and Blanchett) are two young adults who love to gamble. Oscar's a priest and Lucinda's socialite just coming out in society. One evening, they meet aboard a gigantic ship (almost like Jack and Rose in Titanic) and the instant chemistry between is ignited. But they quickly have a falling out when Oscar's fear of the Ocean causes him to offend Lucinda. By the way, let me point out that both of them had scarred childhoods, Oscar's mother died while he was very young and the impact virtually drove his father insane, while Lucinda endured parents who were unhappy with one another but pretended to be happy for the sake of their daughter. When her father died, her mother slowly became a living corpse until she eventually died years later, leaving Lucinda devastated but well taken care of financially.One day, Oscar and Lucinda make amends to their friendship and slowly become closer and closer. Lucinda then decides to build a glass church for their mutual friend, a priest who lives miles away and Oscar bets he can deliver it to him before Good Friday. By doing this, they both break their promise never to gamble again and this sets up a dramatic chain of sorrowful events that occur in the wake of Oscar's journey. A character that Fiennes plays to the pulp!

This is a beautiful movie. That's the best way I can find to describe it. It's odd and quirky and desperately sad, and it will stick in your memory for a long time to come. The leads are fabulous, I read the book before I saw the film and they were every bit as I'd imagined them. I'd recommend this film to anyone who wants to watch a romantic movie that follows none of the clichés of romantic movies. The soundtrack is great too, haunting and utterly, utterly perfect. Everything about this movie is right, the casting, the script, the look of the sets. The only reason I haven't given this movie 10 is that it doesn't measure up to the book it is based on.

Based on Australian novelist, Peter Carey's award-winning book, Oscar and Lucinda, this is a faithful period piece about iconoclasts and their attempt to find love and purpose in strait-laced society despite their fears and obsessions.Ralph Fiennes and Cate Blanchett have glorious, quirky chemistry in the title roles. Ralph Fiennes is such a mercurial actor that while watching this film, it's hard to believe this is the same man that played Amon Goeth in Schindler's List and Charles Van Doren in Quiz Show.Cate Blanchett was discovered by Director Shekhar Kapur and awarded the title role in Elizabeth as a result of her natural, unforced acting in this little-seen Gillian Armstrong film. Brilliantly adapted, visually stunning, and (above all) extremely well-acted this is a film that it would be sad to miss.