Australian
Screen

Teacher’s notes

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This clip shows the intense pressure building within David Helfgott (Noah Taylor) as he prepares, under the supervision of his teacher Professor Cecil Parkes (John Gielgud), to play Rachmaninoff’s 3rd Piano Concerto for the upcoming finals competition at the Royal College of Music. A series of short scenes accompanied by the music of the concerto show him working with his teacher and practising in his rooms alone.

Educational value points

• Skilful filmmaking helps to convey Helfgott’s emotional state. His teacher is alarmed at his risky decision to play the ‘Rach 3’. The pace of the sequence increases as the tension builds. The camera is never still as he practises, and his teacher drives him on. In his lonely room a photograph of his father exhorts him. In another scene the camera moves slowly closer to the Albert Hall, suggesting that the day of the competition is looming.

• The central importance of the music is exemplified in this clip. The sound of Rachmaninoff’s 3rd Piano Concerto drives the sequence, growing increasingly frenetic and building the tension. The concerto was supposedly one of David’s father’s favourite pieces but is represented as ‘monumental’ by his teacher. It is therefore emblematic of David’s love for his father but represents a danger to his sanity. The viewer is aware of this as the sequence unfolds.

• The scenes in the clip and the ‘Rach 3’ represent a crucial period in the life of David Helfgott. Helfgott succeeded brilliantly in mastering the music but at the cost of his sanity. He had a mental breakdown and his promising musical career ended at that time. He returned to Australia and for many years was institutionalised. After the release of the film Shine he performed in concerts to great popular, although not critical, acclaim.

• The threatening language used in the clip signals to the viewer that the ‘Rach 3’ represents a danger to David Helfgott. The music is referred to by David as a ‘mountain’ and by his teacher as ‘monumental’ with the melodies competing and ‘jousting’ within it. No-one has been mad enough, David is told, to take it on in performance at his level. Performing it is a risk without a safety net and he must tame the monster piano or it will swallow him whole.

• David’s impending breakdown is suggested by the scenes in his room. His toast burns. He holds out his gloved fingers and cuts the tips of the gloves off so he can continue to play despite the cold. He plays with a blindfold on, and is then shown sharing a meal of tinned food with his cat. Throughout these scenes the piece he is learning dominates the soundtrack as it is dominating him.

• David asks his teacher if he is ‘mad enough’ to play Rachmaninoff’s 3rd Piano Concerto, which is ironic given that in the process of learning the piece to perform it in the competition he succumbs to mental illness. The illness that afflicted David Helfgott has not been definitively diagnosed, although in her book Out of Tune his sister claims he had a ‘schizo-affective disorder’. The film clearly links his mental problems with the trauma of his upbringing.

• David’s music teacher, Professor Cecil Parkes, is played by English actor, producer and director Sir John Gielgud (1904–2000). Knighted in 1953 for services to the theatre, Gielgud’s career as an actor spanned almost 80 years and he was still acting until a month before his death at the age of 96. A renowned Shakespearean actor, he also appeared on television many times and appeared in many films including Arthur (1981), for which he received an Academy Award.

• In this clip the young David Helfgott is played by Australian actor Noah Taylor. Taylor was 26 when he played David, initially as a 14-year-old. His 1987 film debut, in The Year My Voice Broke, was followed in 1991 when he starred in its sequel, Flirting. His role in Shine gained him a nomination for best leading actor at the 1997 Academy Awards. Since going to Hollywood his films have included Vanilla Sky (2001) and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001).

David and his teacher contemplate what he should perform for the Concerto Medal.
Professor Parkes Rachmaninoff! Are you sure?
David Ah, kind of. I’m never really sure about anything, Mr Parkes.
Professor Parkes The Rach 3! It’s monumental.
David It’s a mountain. It’s the hardest piece you could ever-est play.
Professor Parkes No-one’s ever been mad enough to attempt the Rach 3!
David Am I mad enough, Professor? Am I?

David begins to play.
Professor Parkes Think of it as two separate melodies jousting for supremacy. The hands, giants! 10 fingers each! Performing is a risk, you know. No safety net. Make no mistake, David. It’s dangerous. People get hurt. You have to learn to be able to play it blindfolded. The page, for God’s sake! The notes!
David Sorry, sir. Forgetting the notes.
Professor Parkes Would it be asking too much to learn them first?
David And then forget them?
Professor Parkes Precisely. Just give me the fingering.

We see a sequence of David’s daily life interspersed with endless practice.
Professor Parkes David, come on my boy. We’re going to rest the muscles of the fingers today and try to exercise the imagination. First movement, cadenza. Let’s pick it up from pom … pom-pom …
David Pom-pom …
Professor Parkes Pom-pom pom-pom.
David Pom-pom …
Professor Parkes Your hands must form the unbreakable habit of playing the notes so you can forget all about them, and let it come from here. The heart! That’s where it comes from.
David continues to play.
Professor Parkes Don’t you just love those big fat chords? You have to tame the piano, David, or it’ll get away from you. It’s a monster. Tame it, or it will swallow you whole!
David finishes the piece and Parkes laughs.
Professor Parkes Coming along nicely, David.