''Acute Misfortune'' is a 2018 Australian drama film co-written, directed and produced by Thomas M. Wright. The story is based on

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

journalist Erik Jensen's biography of Australian artist

Adam Cullen Adam Frederick Cullen (9 October 1965 – 28 July 2012) was an Australian artist, most known for winning the Archibald Prize in 2000 with a portrait of actor David Wenham. He was also known for his controversial subjects and his distincti ...

, who died at the age of 46, and stars

Daniel Henshall Daniel Edwin Henshall (born 9 August 1982) is an Australian film, television and theatre actor, known for his work in '' Snowtown'', ''The Babadook'' and '' Turn: Washington's Spies''. Early life and education Born and raised in Sydney, Austr ...

as Adam Cullen.

Plot

The plot tells part of the story of the deeply troubled award-winning artist Adam Cullen's life (1965–2012), specifically his relationship with his biographer, Erik Jensen, as it descends into a dependent and abusive relationship.

Cast

as Adam Cullen *

Toby Wallace Toby Wallace (born 6 June 1995) is a British-born Australian actor, known for his role in '' Babyteeth'' (2019), for which he won the Marcello Mastroianni Award at the 2019 Venice Film Festival and the AACTA for Best Actor in a Leading Role i ...

as Erik Jensen *

Gillian Jones Gillian Jones (born 19 April 1947) is an Australian actress from Newcastle, New South Wales who is best known for appearances in ''Twelfth Night'', ''Oscar and Lucinda'', ''Last Train to Freo'' and the role of Di Paige in the television series ...

as Ruth Marr *

Genevieve Lemon Genevieve Lemon (born 21 April 1958) is an Australian actress and singer who has appeared in a number of Australian television series and international film, including a frequent collaboration with Jane Campion for Academy Award-winning ''The P ...

as Carmel Cullen *

Max Cullen Max Cullen (born 29 April 1940) is an Australian stage and screen actor. He has appeared in many Australian films and television series but is best known for his role in the film ''Spider and Rose'' and the television series ''The Flying Doctors ...

as Kevin Cullen * Daniel Aguiar as Portuguese man * James Bell as Ben * Rowland Holmes as a policeman *

Steve Mouzakis Steve Mouzakis is an Australian film, television and theatre actor. He is known for his role in the Spike Jonze film ''Where the Wild Things Are'', Van Gogh in ''Prison Break'', Steven Ray in the film '' The Suicide Theory'', and performing along ...

as Jim *

Joanne Samuel Joanne Samuel (born 5 August 1957) is an Australian film and television actress, who is best known for her role as the screen wife of Mel Gibson's title character in the 1979 film ''Mad Max''. Biography and career Samuel was born in Camperdow ...

as the magistrate

Themes

The focus of the film is on the complex relationship between the artist and his biographer, and Wright said that he had wanted to make the film "full of beauty, full of possibility...

ith The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is immediatel ...

A lightness, an accessibility and an honesty". He rejects the

bio-pic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...

moniker, and says that he did not set out to make a biography, nor a "faithful transcription of the book"; he wanted to question the book.

Production

The film was based on Jensen's 2015 biography of Cullen, ''Acute Misfortune: The Life and Death of Adam Cullen''. The book won the 2015 Nib Literary Award as well as being shortlisted for the

Walkley Book Award The Walkley Book Award is an Australian award presented annually by the Walkley Foundation for excellence in long-form journalism and nonfiction, with subjects ranging from biography to true crime to investigative journalism and reporting. Winne ...

and the

Victorian Premier's Prize for Nonfiction The Victorian Premier's Prize for Nonfiction, formerly known as the Nettie Palmer Prize for Non-Fiction, is a prize category in the annual Victorian Premier's Literary Award. As of 2011 it has a remuneration of 25,000. The winner of this category p ...

. Wright co-wrote the screenplay with Jensen. Authenticity was important to Wright: Henshall lost during the making of the film, wore Cullen's clothes, painted with his paints and paintbrushes, worked closely with Cullen's assistant, and met many of Cullen's friends, caregivers, former partners and lawyers. Wright co-produced the film with Virginia Kay, Jamie Houge and Liz Kearney. Luca Capelli edited the film, Germain McMicking and Stefan Duscio were the directors of photography, Leah Popple production designer and

Robert Connolly Robert Connolly (born 1967) is an Australian film director, producer and screenwriter based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria. He is best known as the director and writer of the feature films ''Balibo (film), Balibo'', ''Three Dollars' ...

executive producer.

Evelyn Ida Morris Evelyn Ida Morris, also known as Pikelet, is a musician from the outer suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. Morris does not identify as either male or female and prefers to use "they", "them" and "their" as pronouns. They released four albums; ''Pi ...

wrote the score.

Release

The film premiered at the

Melbourne International Film Festival The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is an annual film festival held over three weeks in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1952 and is one of the oldest film festivals in the world following the founding of the Venice Film Fest ...

(MIFF) in August 2018, and played at the

Adelaide Film Festival The Adelaide Film Festival (AFF, formerly ADLFF) is film festival usually held for two weeks in mid-October in cinemas in Adelaide, South Australia. Originally presented biennially in March from 2003, since 2013 AFF has been held in October ...

in October that year. It was also shown at the 2018

Brisbane International Film Festival The Brisbane International Film Festival (BIFF) is an annual film festival held in Brisbane, Australia. Organised by the Screen Culture unit at Screen Queensland, the festival has taken place since 1992, with the program including features, doc ...

and the 2019

Edinburgh International Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) is a film festival that runs for two weeks in June each year. Established in 1947, it is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all ti ...

. It was released in Australian cinemas in May 2019, starting with question and answer sessions at selected cinemas.

Critical response

Acute Misfortune received a five star review and was named the best Australian film of 2019 by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'',. It was later named one of ''The Guardians "10 Best Australian Films of the decade 2010–2020" ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' called ''Acute Misfortune'' "one of the year's most striking and accomplished directorial debuts". The film received ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' Critics' Prize at

and was nominated for the 2019

AACTA Award The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known as the AACTA Awards, are presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). The awards recognise excellence in the film and television industry, ...

for Best Independent Film. It was given a "Notable mention" (along with '' Sweet Country'') in ''

The Monthly ''The Monthly'' is an Australian national magazine of politics, society and the arts, which is published eleven times per year on a monthly basis except the December/January issue. Founded in 2005, it is published by Melbourne property developer ...

'' Awards 2018, and ''

Screen Daily ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global film business. ...

'' called it an "overlooked gem" in their list of the Best Films of the year. Wright is nominated in the Best Director (Feature Film) category for Acute Misfortune at the 2020 Australian Directors' Guild Awards. For his work, Henshall was nominated for the 2019

Film Critics Circle of Australia Award The Film Critics Circle of Australia (FCCA) is an association of cinema critics and reviewers. It includes journalists in "media, television, major national and state papers, radio, national and state, online and freelance writers, Australian ...

for Best Actor and 2020

Australian Film Critics Association The Australian Film Critics Association (AFCA), formerly Melbourne Film Critics’ Forum, is an Australian professional association A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional socie ...

Award for Best Actor. The score, by

, was nominated for best soundtrack at the 2018

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 8634406 2018 films Australian biographical drama films Australian films based on actual events 2018 biographical drama films 2010s English-language films