Synopsis

In 19th-century England and Australia, Oscar Hopkins, an Anglican priest haunted by strict religious upbringing, meets Lucinda Leplastrier, an independent heiress fascinated by glass and gambling. Drawn together by their shared compulsions, they make an extraordinary wager: Oscar will oversee the transport of a glass church across the Australian wilderness, turning their risky pact into a test of faith, love, and obsession.

Factoids & Trivia

• The film adapts Peter Carey's 1988 novel, which won the Booker Prize.

• Screenwriter Laura Jones retained the novel's lengthy character backgrounds, with the film spending roughly its first 40 minutes establishing Oscar and Lucinda before their meeting aboard ship.

• The glass church is the story's central visual metaphor. Its fragile construction and dangerous journey reflect Oscar's religious idealism, Lucinda's fascination with glass, and the film's recurring idea that life itself is a gamble.

• Producer Robin Dalton acquired the film rights before the novel was published. The project originally developed with director John Schlesinger, but later moved in a different creative direction after the production struggled to settle on a screenplay.

• Filming took place in Australia and England, including Sydney, Hobart, and several locations in Cornwall.

• The film received a 1998 Academy Award nomination for Janet Patterson's costume design.

• At the 1998 Australian Film Institute Awards, it won for cinematography, production design, sound, and original music score.