Cosi

1996 • 100 minutes

About this movie

Ben Mendelsohn stars as Lewis Riley, an unemployed young man who applies for a job as a drama teacher at a mental hospital. Upon landing the job, he finds himself directing a production of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Cosi - an elaborate, demanding piece of operatic theatre in Italian. Casting a list of patients who only speak English, Lewis has his challenges ahead, dealing with the eclectic eccentricities of everyone involved - Barry Otto, stars as Roy who sweeps everything along before him, organising auditions and appointing himself as co-director. Roy's enthusiasm infects the group, and they charge headlong into production. Soon, Lewis finds his own life becoming interwoven with the themes presenting on stage. Loosely based on writer Louis Nowra's own experiences at Plenty Mental Hospital in Melbourne and directed by Mark Joffe, Cosi has become known as a classic Australian comedy since it's hit release in 1996 and stars Toni Collette, Jacki Weaver, David Wenham, Colin Friels and Rachel Griffiths. 1996 Australian Film Finance Corporation Limited, New South Wales Film & Television Office, Smiley Films Pty Ltd, Miramax Film Corporation.