''Amy'' is a 1997 Australian film written by David Parker and directed by

Nadia Tass Nadia Tass is an Australian theatre director and film director and producer. She is known for the films ''Malcolm'' (1986) and ''The Big Steal'' (1990), as well as an extensive body of work in the theatre, both in Australia and internationa ...

, starring Alana De Roma in the title role,

Rachel Griffiths Rachel Anne Griffiths (born in 1968) is an Australian actress. Raised primarily in Melbourne, she began her acting career appearing on the Australian series ''Secrets'' before being cast in a supporting role in the comedy ''Muriel's Wedding'' ...

Ben Mendelsohn Paul Benjamin Mendelsohn (born 3 April 1969) is an Australian actor. He first rose to prominence in Australia for his breakout role in ''The Year My Voice Broke'' (1987) and since then he has had roles in films such as '' Animal Kingdom'' (2010) ...

, and

Nick Barker Nicholas Paul Barker is an Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist who formed a rock, power pop band, Nick Barker & the Reptiles, in March 1988. Their cover version of Cockney Rebel's "Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)" reached the top ...

Background

The story developed from a concept inspired by the ''

Man of La Mancha ''Man of La Mancha'' is a 1965 musical with a book by Dale Wasserman, music by Mitch Leigh, and lyrics by Joe Darion. It is adapted from Wasserman's non-musical 1959 teleplay ''I, Don Quixote'', which was in turn inspired by Miguel de Cervantes ...

'' and the screenplay was developed by Tass' husband David Parker. The project that took eleven years to complete due to financial problems and a difficult search for the perfect "Amy".

Plot

Amy's (Alana De Roma) father, Will Enker (Nick Barker), was a popular rock musician accidentally electrocuted while performing on stage. The psychological trauma leaves Amy

mute Muteness is a speech disorder in which a person lacks the ability to speak. Mute or the Mute may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Mute'' (2005 film), a short film by Melissa Joan Hart * ''Mute'' (2018 film), a scien ...

and

deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an Audiology, audiological condition. In this context it ...

. At the age of eight she is brought by her mother, Tanya (

), to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

to diagnose the reasons for her continued silence. Amy befriends her neighbor, Robert (

), and while social workers try desperately to get her to speak and go to school, she makes the choice to communicate again and begins to sing along to Robert's rock songs after three years of silence. Her mother works out her own emotional issues with the help of a therapist.

Cast

;Partial additional cast

Release

The film first screened at the Athens International Film Festival on 12 September 1997, and had its

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n premiere 27 August 1998. It was screened at multiple film festivals from 1998 through 2003, before its television debut in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

on 14 October 2004.

Reception

When it was released, ''Amy'' received rave reviews and many awards and nominations. The film also received criticism as it was sometimes felt to be dated and imprecise in its references to Amy's plight. In France and the U.S, the movie was a hit, apparently receiving standing ovations at some theatres. The film received approval from Lawrence van Gelder of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' when he offered that "A couple of good performances, linked to a crowd-pleasing but predictable story marred by some slapdash construction await audiences..." and "Warm of heart, modest in polish, 'Amy' provides satisfactions that must be balanced against its flaws." The ''

Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington, United States. The newspaper was foun ...

'' was less forgiving when they opined that "although the film is a decidedly mixed bag, it's blessed by solid performances from a top-notch cast", that it "feels dated and imprecise", and is "not able to make up its mind whether it wants to be slapstick or a heart-wrenching drama." On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has an approval rating of 43%, based on reviews from 14 critics. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, the film has a score of 40 out of 100, based on reviews from 8 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Box office

''Amy'' took $599,724 at the box office in Australia, which is equivalent to $883,616 in 2009 dollars.

Awards and nominations

The film won the Prix de la Jeunesse at the 1999

Cannes International Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

, and also won the Le Prix Cinecole, an award judged by teachers from across France, which award was presented by the French Minister for Education and Culture. It was announced that ''Amy'' would be included in the senior high school curriculum in France. * 1998,

Asia-Pacific Film Festival The Asia-Pacific Film Festival (abbreviated APFF) is an annual film festival hosted by the Federation of Motion Picture Producers in Asia-Pacific. The festival was first held in Tokyo, Japan, in 1954. History The festival was first held in Tok ...

** Grand Jury Award for outstanding contribution to humanity, Nadia Tass * People's Choice Awards ** Favourite Australian Movie * 1998,

Heartland Film Festival The Heartland International Film Festival is a film festival held each October in Indianapolis, Indiana. The festival was first held in 1992, its goal is to "inspire filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion pictu ...

** Crystal Heart Award, Nadia Tass & David Parker * 1998,

Australian Film Institute The Australian Film Institute (AFI) was founded in 1958 as a non-profit organisation devoted to developing an active film culture in Australia and fostering engagement between the general public and the Australian film industry. It is responsib ...

** AFI Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay, David Parker * 1998,

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 ...

** Most Popular Film audience selection * 1998,

Australian Cinematographers Society The Australian Cinematographers Society (ACS) is a not-for-profit organisation founded in 1958 for the purpose of providing a forum for Australian cinematographers to further develop their skills through mutual co-operation. Location Its Nati ...

** Gold (shared) for Feature Productions Section, David Parker * 1998, Australian Film Institute ** AFI Award nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, Rachel Griffiths * 1999,

** Prix de la Jeunesse, Nadia Tass ** Le Prix Cinecole, Nadia Tass * 1999, Creteil Festival de Femmes ** Prix de Jeunesse ** Prix du Jury Graine de Cinephage * 1999,

Giffoni Film Festival The Giffoni International Film Festival is an Italian children's film festival which takes place annually in Giffoni Valle Piana, Campania. It began in 1971. The Giffoni International Film Festival typically has around 100,000 guests and has had ...

** Bronze Gryphon for Best Actress, Alana De Roma ** Golden Gryphon, Nadia Tass * 1999, Oulu International Children's Film Festival nomination for Starboy Award, Nadia Tass * Laon International Film Festival For Young People ** Best Film ** Prix du Jury International Jeune Public * 1999, Australian Cinematographers Society ** Award of Distinction for Feature Productions Cinema, David Parker ** Nominated for Featured Productions Cinema * 1999,

Young Artist Awards The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...

** nomination for Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film - Young Actress Age Ten or Under, Alana De Roma * 2000, Carrousel international du film de Rimouski ** Audience Camério, Nadia Tass ** Camerio Best Feature ** Camerio Grand Public ** Camerio Best Actress, Alana de Roma ** Camerio Best Actor, Ben Mendelsohn * 2000,

Paris Film Festival The Festival du Film de Paris, also known as Paris Film Festival, was a film festival held annually in Paris, France. It was launched in 1986 as a youth-oriented festival. In 2002, the municipal government withdrew funding and began Festival Paris ...

** Public Prize, Nadia Tass

Reviews

* Variety
Amy
review by David Rooney * eFilmCritic
Amy (2001)
review by Jimmie Reardon * Haro-Online

review * Steve Baker's Film Review

References

External links

* *
''Amy''
at Oz Movies {{DEFAULTSORT:Amy (1997 Film) 1997 films Australian drama films Films about deaf people Films directed by Nadia Tass Films set in Melbourne Films shot in Melbourne 1990s English-language films