Right Hand Man, The

Extraordinarily beautiful, Judith Crist stagecoach driver (Hugo Weaving) goes to work for a dying, one-armed aristocrat (Rupert Everett) in 1860s Australia. The two men are soon involved in an intense, complex relationship with a spirited and beautiful young woman (Catherine McClements). A thoughtful drama with meditations on mortality, class, independence and love, it is an atypical journey into the nation's past. Directed and adapted for the screen by an all-female team (director Di Drew and screenwriter Helen Hodgman) a rarity for the era this lavish and ambitious Australian period drama was shot mostly on location in Bathurst, New South Wales. (Umbrella Entertainment)