Lynn Redgrave gives practical women both authority and the capacity to be foolish. We value her most when a small supporting part suggests a whole life, as Gillian does in Shine.
Fi1m perspective
In Shine (1996), Lynn Redgrave’s Gillian has a firmness that the film badly needs. Scott Hicks is inclined to treat warmth as sufficient explanation, and she makes the reassurance less automatic. We were relieved by her presence, because Gillian seems to have a life beyond her usefulness to David Helfgott. John Gielgud’s Cecil Parkes offers something similar, even as the writing arranges our sympathies a little too neatly. Redgrave gives us reason to consider the supporting character separately, rather than simply be glad that someone is there to help.
The early breakthrough was a leading role, as Georgy in Georgy Girl (1966), which brought her international recognition. Her comic timing found a good use in awkwardness. More broadly, she was adept at playing women whose brisk common sense could be unsettled by a foible or fixation. After that success, leading film offers became fewer and typecasting narrowed the opportunities. Supporting parts in the mid-1990s brought renewed attention to an actor whose strengths did not depend on the size of the role.
In Bill Condon’s Gods and Monsters (1998), she plays Hanna, the housekeeper in his speculative portrait of James Whale. Ian McKellen and Brendan Fraser provide the warm, awkward friendship that makes the film worth an evening. Redgrave’s subtlety as Hanna helps keep the household credible, giving the housekeeper an inner strength of her own. The script over-explains its connections with Whale’s films, but the actors keep the people more interesting than those explanations.
The limitation is partly in what such roles ask of her. A film can use a sensible woman to settle its difficult feelings, and Shine sometimes seems too grateful to have one available. Redgrave’s firmness helps, but it cannot put back all the complications the telling has left out. We recommend both films; start with Shine, and watch how much Gillian contributes without becoming merely a source of comfort.
Biography
Lynn Redgrave was an English actress. She trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London and made her stage debut in 1962.
She appeared in films including Tom Jones (1963) and Georgy Girl (1966), for which she received an Academy Award nomination. Later credits include Shine (1996) as Gillian, and Gods and Monsters (1998), which brought another Academy Award nomination. She also worked extensively in theatre and on television.
Redgrave was appointed OBE in 2001. She was the daughter of actors Michael Redgrave and Rachel Kempson, and sister of actors Vanessa Redgrave and Corin Redgrave.
