Beth and Michelle revisit My Brilliant Career (1979), Gillian Armstrong’s Australian period drama starring Judy Davis and Sam Neill. Sybylla Melvyn is a headstrong aspiring writer surrounded by people who believe marriage is the only sensible future for a young woman. Then she meets the charming Harry Beecham and discovers that choosing freedom becomes much harder when the life she is refusing includes someone she may genuinely love.
This week, we discuss the film’s beautiful, almost painterly landscapes, its deliberately slow pacing, one unexpectedly complete pillow fight, and the maddening chorus of women and men telling Sybylla to accept her proper place. Harry may support her ambitions, but she would still need his permission to pursue them, and Sybylla would rather face loneliness and uncertainty than surrender ownership of her own life. We also pay tribute to Sam Neill by returning to the first leading role that helped introduce his warmth, humor, and unmistakable presence to the world.
In the Stitch Count, My Brilliant Career earns 6 out of 9. It easily passes the Castellini portion and avoids a sexualizing camera gaze, while Sybylla ultimately retains her agency and chooses her creative future. Its overwhelmingly white world and lack of meaningful LGBTQ or disability representation hold it back, but its feminist purpose remains remarkably clear: she can love Harry and still choose herself.