An Angel At My Table
(The Criterion Collection)

Jane Campion’s tender treatment of New Zealand author Janet Frame’s autobiography is finally available on DVD and gets the high-def treatment from the good folks at Criterion. Composed of three parts (originally a television miniseries), the film begins with Frame’s awkward childhood as a member of a poor family that lost two daughters to drowning accidents and who was an outcast among her classmates at school. Painfully shy, she retreated into her head where she began writing poetry and short stories. After finishing school, she became a teacher, but after suffering a panic attack in front of her class, she was sent to a psychiatric hospital and subjected to over 200 electroshock treatments over eight years to treat her (misdiagnosed) schizophrenia. As the hospital was preparing to perform a partial lobotomy, word arrived that Frame had won the national literary award for a collection of her short stories (compiled by her sisters) and was released soon afterwards. A friend of the family offered her a cottage as a place to live and work and it was here that her writing career began in earnest and flourished. Campion frames every shot with care, particularly those of the New Zealand landscapes and elicits strong performances from the three actresses depicting the author at different stages in her life. I loved the scene where the young Janet is given a library card and brings home books for each member of her family…. Extras include deleted scenes, a documentary about the making of the film, a rare radio interview with Janet Frame and excerpts from her book.--David Bassin