''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 States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

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 distinct ...

, who died at the age of 46. The film stars

Daniel Henshall Daniel Edwin Henshall (born 9 August 1982) is an Australian actor. Following his film debut in ''Snowtown'' (2011), for which he won the AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Henshall appeared in films such as '' The Babadook'' (2014), ...

as Cullen and Toby Wallace as Jensen.

Plot

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

Cast

* Toby Wallace 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 serie ...

as Ruth Marr *

Genevieve Lemon Genevieve Lemon (born 1959) 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 Piano'' (1 ...

as Carmel Cullen *

Max Cullen Maxwell Phillip 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 ...

Kevin Cullen Kevin Cullen (born May 1, 1959) is an American journalist and author. He was a member of ''The Boston Globes 2003 investigative team. ''The Boston Globe'' as an institution won a Pulitzer Prize for ''Public Service'' for coverage of the sexual ...

* Christopher Clift as the grieving father *

Daniel Aguiar Daniel commonly refers to: * Daniel (given name), a masculine given name and a surname * List of people named Daniel * List of people with surname Daniel * Daniel (biblical figure) * Book of Daniel, a biblical apocalypse, "an account of the activi ...

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 alon ...

as Jim *

Joanne Samuel Joanne Samuel 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''. Early life and education Joanne Samuel was born in Camperdown, Sydney, ...

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 kilometers, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is i ...

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 an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudrama films and histo ...

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 The Nib Literary Award, established in 2002 at the suggestion of actor and producer Chris Haywood, the Patron of the Friends of Waverley Library, as The Nib Waverley Library Award for Literature and since 2017 known as the Mark and Evette Mora ...

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. Win ...

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 ...

. 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. He is best known as the director and writer of the feature films '' Balibo'', '' Three Dollars'', '' The Bank'' and '' The Dry' ...

executive producer. Evelyn Ida Morris 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, Victoria, Australia. It was founded in 1952 and is one of the oldest film festivals in the world following the founding of the Venic ...

(MIFF) in August 2018, and played at the

Adelaide Film Festival The Adelaide Film Festival (AFF, formerly ADLFF) is a film festival usually held for two weeks in mid-October in movie theater, cinemas in Adelaide, South Australia. Originally presented wikt:Special:Search/biennial, biennially in March from 2 ...

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), established in 1947, is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all titles are World, international, European or UK Premieres), in al ...

. It was released in Australian cinemas in May 2019, starting with Q&A sessions at selected cinemas.

Reception

''Acute Misfortune'' received a

five-star review Star ratings are a type of rating scale using a star glyph or similar typographical symbol. It is used by reviewers for ranking things such as films, TV shows, restaurants, and hotels. For example, a system of one to five stars is commonly use ...

and was named the best Australian film of 2019 by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. 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". ''

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 which also owned '' Broadcast''. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involv ...

'' called it an "overlooked gem" in their list of the Best Films of 2018.

Awards and nominations

''Acute Misfortune'' 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 It 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

after its premiere, and later in the year was nominated for the 2019

AACTA Award for Best Indie Film The AACTA Award for Best Indie Film is an award presented by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) since 2018. The award is presented at the annual AACTA Awards, which hand out accolades for achievements in feature film, ...

in the

9th AACTA Awards The 9th Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards (generally known as the AACTA Awards) is an awards ceremony to celebrate the best of Australian films and television of 2019. The main ceremony was held at The Star (Sydney), The St ...

. Wright was 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 for film critics, film review, reviewers and journalists who work in the media, based in Melbourne. It is a member ...

Award for Best Actor. The score, by Evelyn Ida Morris, 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 English-language biographical drama films