Sybylla looks on Harry favourably, when he shows a willingness to sit down with her and duet on the piano, and especially when she compares him to 'silly ass' English jackaroo Frank Hawden (Robert Grubb), who seems to think singing 'Jersualem' as an evening entertainment might beguile Sybylla.īut she remains torn by her desire to become a published author, and by the constrictions of respectable life, which sees her jealously go dancing wildly to bush music in the woolshed with the workers, before taking the whip to Harry. Leaving home, Sybylla spends time at grandmother Bossier's (Aileen Britton) much more palatial property, 'Caddagat', discussing matters with kindly Aunt Helen (Wendy Hughes), who has been abandoned by her husband.Īs a result, Sybylla spends time at neighbouring property Five Bob Downs, reigned over by Aunt Gussie (Patricia Kennedy), long enough for handsome squatter Harry Beecham (Sam Neill) to take her punting on a billabong (naturally the couple fall in the water), indulge in a wild pillow fight, and otherwise show signs of being madly in love and wanting to propose to her.

Judy Davis stars as Sybylla Melvyn, the headstrong eldest daughter of an impoverished New South Wales farming family, dreaming of a writing career while her drought-destroyed father (Alan Hopgood) and careworn mother (Julia Blake) struggle to survive.īold and determined to avoid conventional notions of marrying out of her 'Possum Gully' poverty trap, Sybylla's resolve causes frequent clashes with those close to her, who believe a career inappropriate for a woman, especially one who seems incapable even of doing the chores around the house.

My brilliant career by miles franklin