awillawill 158 minutes long – and for what? A quarter of the scenes could have been dropped because they took the story nowhere. Many of the remaining scenes applied the directorial maxim "go in late and come out early" to a destructive extreme. It was like being given clues to a cryptic crossword.To be fair, the film started well. The first 20 minutes or so were acutely observed and well acted and directed, then it began going downhill with increasing speed.It was no surprise to learn that the film is a cut-down version of a TV mini-series. I can only assume that the IMDb reviewers who enjoyed the film must have known of Janet Frame and her story. For those of us who knew neither, it was unexplained mystery piled on unexplained mystery.It could be argued that a plus for the film was that it kept me watching to the end, but believe me, that was simply because I lived in (vain) hopes that all would suddenly be clarified with a satisfactory conclusion. But no. It just left me frustrated and deeply disappointed.

Spuzzlightyear For some people, "An Angel At My Table' would be a VERY long sit-through. The story of one of New Zealand's most famous authors, who succeeds despite having gone through schizophrenia isn't exactly family entertainment. But although the movie runs far too long, at 2 and a half hours, I found myself engaged quite a bit as soon as the story got moving, and not a relentless character study. Janette Frame, a girl with a serious shock of red hair, grows up, realizing her passion for writing, and suffers tremendous setbacks, both emotionally and professionally. What a performance the three actresses give as Janette, we see Janette as a young girl, a teenager, and as a young adult. Although Kerry Fox is the most well known of all three, all three are tremendous here, each taking the nuances of Frame, and developing the character beautifully. As per the case of all Jane Campion's films, she knows how to frame the camera quite well, and again, although the movie IS long, it does have a lot of amazing little moments

dukemantee Jane Campion's "An Angel at My Table" is a superbly competent biography of New Zealand writer Janet Frame. Frame, who suffered the death of two siblings as a child, was wrongly diagnosed as mentally ill. She was institutionalised for eight years and received over two hundred shock therapy treatments. Sharing like themes with "Sweetie" (Campion's first feature which I highly recommend), both films deal with emotionally driven misfits. I admire the fundamental narrative, as oppose to the oversentimental maudliness of a televised mini-series. In fact, the American theatrical version is an editing of such programming. I would have preferred seeing the longer version, because some parts are brief and required further explanation. Kerry Fox is magnificently capital as the older Frame. I did not realise, until an IMBD inquiry, she was the female lead in "Shallow Grave". Overall, Frame's life is compelling drama and Campion's portrayal is intelligent. 3 out of 4 stars.

Jules-87 This is an excellent mini-series that I couldn't stop watching. Based on the true-life story of writer Janet Frame, it provides an insight into a mental health system that further hampered, rather than improved its patients, and shows how one woman managed to get passed this, to become the respected woman New Zealanders now know her as.