title: My First Wife
text: # My First Wife
  
  My First Wife is a 1984 Australian drama film directed by Paul Cox. The film won several AFI Awards in 1984.
  
  ## Plot
  
  The film follows the dissolution of John and Helen's marriage and the aftermath.
  
  ## Cast
  
  * John Hargreaves as John
  * Wendy Hughes as Helen
  * Lucy Angwin as Lucy
  * David Cameron as Tom
  * Anna Maria Monticelli as Hilary
  * Betty Lucas as Helen's Mother
  * Lucy Uralov as John's Mother
  * Robin Lovejoy as John's father
  * Charles 'Bud' Tingwell as Helen's Father
  * Jon Finlayson as Bernard
  * Julia Blake as Kirstin
  
  ## Production
  
  The film was based on the breakdown of Cox's marriage. He started writing the script, showed it to Bob Ellis and the two men wrote the screenplay together. (Ellis says they spent a day and a half on it.)
  
  The film was shot mostly at a house in Williamstown in Melbourne.
  
  ## Music
  
  Choir: Members of the Tudor Choristers directed by David Carolane
  
  Christoph Willibald Gluck: "Orpheus & Euridice".
  
  Berliner Symphoniker – Hermann Prey
  
  Conductor – Horst Stein
  
  Joseph Haydn - "Paukenmesse"
  
  Bayerischen Rundfunks Symphony Orchestra & Chorus
  
  Conductor – Rafael Kubelik, Polygram
  
  Ann Boyd - "As I crossed a Bridge of Dreams", "Cycle of love", Faber Music Ltd.
  
  Carl Orff - "Carmine Burana"
  
  Czech Philharmonic Orchestra & Chorus, Conducted by Vaclev Smetacek, Supraphon
  
  Rene Geyer - "Hot Minuets", Mushroom Records, Australia
  
  Frans Sussmayr - "Grandfather's Birthday Celebration", Hungarian Radio Children's Chorus, Budapest Symphony Orchestra, Conductor – Laszlo Csanyl
  
  ## Box office
  
  My First Wife grossed $413,199 at the box office in Australia, which is equivalent to $1,049,525 in 2009 dollars.
  
  ## Awards
  
  My First Wife won in 1984 AFI Awards in the Best Actor in a Lead Role (John Hargreaves), Best Director (Paul Cox), Best Original Screenplay (Paul Cox, Bob Ellis) categories and was nominated in 4 more categories. Paul Cox also won the 1986 Grand Prix award at the Flanders International Film Festival in 1986.
  
  