HEPHZIBAH
Director: Curtis Levy Documentary
Reviewed by GREG KING
This acclaimed and award winning documentary exploring the fascinating life of concert pianist and human rights activist Hephzibah Menuhin was filmed in 1998 but is only now gaining a limited cinematic release.
Born in California in 1920, Hephzibah Menuhin was the lesser-known younger sister of internationally renowned violinist Yehudi Menuhin. A child prodigy herself, Hephzibah played the piano opposite her brother, and accompanied him on his early tours of Europe and America. But she sacrificed her promising musical career when she married Lindsay Nicholas, the heir to the Australian Aspro fortune, and followed him to his 8000-hectare sheep farm in Victoria’s western district.
At first she enjoyed the change of life style and spent time raising her two sons and becoming involved in the life of her local community. She also played as a featured soloist with both the Melbourne and Sydney Symphony Orchestras. But her sense of contentment changed after WWII, when she again toured Europe briefly. Her visits to the remains of the concentration camps awakened in her a fierce determination to help the underprivileged and helpless victims.
In the early 1950’s she embarked on a torrid affair with sociologist Richard Hauser, an adulterous relationship that scandalised Australia. In 1954 she divorced Lindsay and eventually married Hauser. The pair returned to Europe, where she alternated between concert tours with her brother and her passionate commitment to human rights work in London. She opened a shelter for abused women and children and established a centre for human rights in their house in East London. She remained a committed and passionate activist for human rights until her death, from throat cancer, in 1981.
For director Curtis Levy, Hephzibah is something of a labour of love. His mother, who was a close friend of Hephzibah’s sparked his interest in Hephzibah Menuhin and her incredible legacy. Levy is also passionate about politics, which is reflected in his often controversial choice of subject matter for his documentaries, like The President Versus David Hicks.
In creating this rich and insightful portrait, Levy has drawn upon archival footage, grainy and rarely seen home movies, interviews with friends and family and a series of personal letters written by Hephzibah herself that chart her failing marriage (and read by Kerry Armstrong). What ultimately emerges from this carefully researched documentary is the enduring picture of a head strong, fiercely independent, driven, passionate, creative and unconventional woman who was possibly ahead of her time.
**1/2