Australia's gift to the movie world this year is a shimmering jewel called Shine.

Easily one of the year's best films, Shine recounts the true story of David Helfgott, a gifted young concert pianist whose fragile mental health cannot withstand the burden of his genius or the pain of his childhood.

On the brink of stardom, he collapses, spending the next decade in a mental institution.

When he emerges, he is deeply changed, and only intermittently capable of living like a ''normal'' person. What he has not lost, however, is his ability to make a piano speak with the eloquence of angels. Music draws him back to life, unleashes his talent, rekindles his joy and leads him to love and redemption -- even though he is never ''cured'' in conventional movie terms.

The film owes its success to the passionate sensibility of director Scott Hicks, as well as the fine script by Jan Sardi, even the electrifying musical score, performed largely by Mr. Helfgott himself.

The supporting cast is superb, including John Gielgud as the prodigy's musical tutor, Armin Mueller-Stahl as his rigid, controlling father, Alex Rafalowicz and Noah Taylor as the young artist, and Lynn Redgrave as the woman who decides it is perfectly sane to fall in love with a babbling crazy man.

But the film truly belongs to Geoffrey Rush, the stage actor who plays Mr. Helfgott as an adult. It is miraculous work, technically exhausting yet infused with a childlike delight that turns even the most the uncomfortable realities of his unbalanced character into touchstones of hard-won humanity.

Do yourself a favor; light up a dark winter night and go see Shine.