After a childhood of abuse by his evangelistic father, misfit Oscar Hopkins becomes an Anglican minister and develops a divine obsession with gambling. Lucinda Leplastrier is a rich Australian heiress shopping in London for materials for her newly acquired glass factory back home. Deciding to travel to Australia as a missionary, Oscar meets Lucinda aboard ship, and a mutual obsession blossoms. They make a wager that will alter each of their destinies.
Oscar and Lucinda is a 1997 romantic drama film directed by Gillian Armstrong and starring Cate Blanchett, Ralph Fiennes, Ciarán Hinds and Tom Wilkinson. The screenplay by Laura Jones is based on the 1988 Booker Prize-winning novel Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey. The film was nominated at the 70th Academy Awards for the Best Costume Design, and was also nominated for and won several AACTA and other awards.
