Oscar and Lucinda is a 1997 romantic drama film directed by Gillian Armstrong and starring Cate Blanchett, Ralph Fiennes, Ciarán Hinds and Tom Wilkinson. The screenplay by Laura Jones is based on the 1988 Booker Prize-winning novel Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey. In March 1998, the film was nominated at the 70th Academy Awards for the Best Costume Design.

Plot

As a little girl living in Australia, Lucinda Leplastrier is given a Prince Rupert's Drop. This gift sparks a lifelong obsession with glass. Lucinda's parents die when she is young, and she becomes a wealthy heiress after her guardians sell off the vast farmland that was her family's home. She buys a glass factory with her money. But she also takes to gambling after being introduced to it by her accountant. Meanwhile, a young Oscar is being reared as a Plymouth Brother by his father. After receiving a sign from God, he decides to join the Anglican faith. While studying, Oscar is introduced to gambling and becomes highly successful. He uses his winnings to fund his studies and gives the rest to the poor. He earns a scholarship to study in New South Wales. On the boat over, he meets Lucinda and hears her confess to gambling. He says that it is not a sin. They play cards together until Oscar becomes panicked at the sight of a storm. In New South Wales, Oscar loses his scholarship after he is unable to stop gambling. He goes to live with Lucinda, who allows him to work in her glass factory. Inspired by a model of a glass church that she shows him, he asks her to make a lifesize replica to ship to their mutual friend the Revered Dennis Hasset. Oscar bets that he can deliver it by Good Friday. Lucinda decides that they will each bet their inheritance. Because he fears water, Oscar takes the church mostly over land and water in an expedition led by Mr. Jeffries. He witnesses Jeffries murdering and raping Indigenous Australians. Oscar kills Jeffries in self-defense after the other man attacks him. Oscar successfully delivers the church by the deadline. Weakened upon arrival, he is left in the care of a woman named Miriam Chadwick, who rapes him. In love with Lucinda but fearing that he will have to marry Miriam, Oscar enters the glass church to pray. He falls asleep and is drowned inside when the church sinks; it had been resting on a barge in the water. Miriam gets pregnant from her abuse of Oscar. Hasset burns the papers that confirm the wager with Lucinda, as he did not want Lucinda's money to be inherited by Miriam. She dies shortly after her son is born, whom she names Oscar. The boy is reared by Lucinda.

Cast

Production

Gillian Armstrong had long wanted to film Peter Carey's novel but the rights were originally bought for John Schlesinger. However, after several years they could not come up with a script anyone was happy with; Schlesinger dropped out, Armstrong became involved and she brought in Laura Jones.

Filming

The filming took place in Sydney (as well in the Sydney suburbs of Glebe and Randwick) and all around New South Wales. Scenes were also filmed in Hobart, Tasmania, and some others in Cornwall, south-west England.

Music

The soundtrack to Oscar and Lucinda was released by CBS Masterworks Records on 9 December 1997 in Australia and the United States, it was recorded by Thomas Newman and the Bruckner Orchestra. The soundtrack was completely recorded at Paramount Scoring Stage and at The Village Recorder, in Los Angeles, California on 9–30 June 1997. The music from the track “Sydney Harbor” would eventually appear in a teaser trailer for Wall-E, another movie that Thomas Newman conducted the score for.

Release

Box office

Oscar and Lucinda grossed $1,768,946 at the box office in Australia, which is equivalent to $2,458,835 in 2009 dollars. The film grossed $4,953,510 between the USA, Australia, the UK, and Germany.

Reception

Oscar and Lucinda received generally positive reviews from critics.

Awards