| Jessica | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Peter Andrikidis |
| Produced by | Anthony Buckley |
| Written by | Bryce Courtenay (novel), Peter Yeldham |
| Starring | Sam Neill, Leeanna Walsman, Lisa Harrow, Tony Martin |
| Music by | Paul Grabowsky |
| Release date(s) | 2004 |
| Running time | 196 mins |
| Language | English |
| Budget | ~A$7,200,000 |
Jessica is an Australian television miniseries originally broadcast by the Ten Network in 2004. It is a heart-rending story of one woman's remarkable fight for justice against enormous odds. Set at the turn of the twentieth century, against the harsh landscape of the Australian outback, Jessica portrays the extraordinary resilience of the human spirit, as one woman faces life's toughest challenges.
The Bergman sisters could not be more different. While Jessica is a feisty tomboy who loves to help her father work their farmland, her beautiful sister, Meg, is eagerly being groomed by her mother, Hester, to be the perfect wife so that she can marry her way out of poverty. However, when the man that Meg has set her sights on falls in love with Jessica and gets her pregnant, Hester pitilessly schemes to wrench the couple apart to claim Jessica's son, Joey for Meg, and finally commits Jessica to a mental asylum. It is here that Jessica receives news of her lover's death and almost loses hope, but after enlisting the help of Mr. Runche, a down and out lawyer battling alcoholism, she is eventually released. Years later, it is the reformed Runche who gives Jessica the courage to fight for the return of her child. Eventually Meg and Hester call an uneasy truce with Jessica and allow her to play a role in Joey's life as his aunt. The film ends with Jessica's death from a snake bite and an older Joey visting her grave.