Susannah Fowle

An Australian who has fought in Vietnam blames Agent Orange for his cancer, and sues for compensation.

The Getting of Wisdom is based on the 1910 novel by Henry Handel Richardson (born Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson). Her novel is thought to be an account of her own schooldays at the Presbyterian Ladies College in Melbourne. The film is about a young girl, Laura Tweedle-Rambotham who grew up in the outback, and at around the age of 14, is sent off by her poor mother who has scrimped and saved for her to go to a prestigious women’s private college in Melbourne, the Presbyterian Ladies College.

Penny is in her mid-twenties. For years she has suffered from the sexual assaults of her father, who is now beginning to take an interest in her younger sister. She tries to convince her mother and sister of her situation as an incest victim, but they just ignore her. The father tries to keep his secret by isolating Penny, but eventually she is old enough and confident enough to break free, though not without the emotional scars of years of abuse.

First there was ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’, then ‘My Brilliant Career’, and now best of all ‘The Getting of Wisdom’. It is incomparably moving and powerful.