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Advice & More September 2015

Further Review

Shining a Light on Mental Illness Onscreen

By Tharon Giddens

Over the years, there has been an impressive array of films dealing with the inner workings of the psyche. Here are five favorites well worth revisiting to see how perceptions of mental health and illness and its treatment have changed.

The inner conflict and drama of dealing with mental illnesses has made for some memorable films, but how accurate has Hollywood been in its portrayal? Films obviously have to entertain more than inform if they want to make money, so it’s frequently about the  blood (think slasher films like the Halloween films, or deranged killers like Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs and its offshoots), or simply silliness (a family of lovable, if murderous, eccentrics, as in Arsenic and Old Lace).

But over the years, there has been an impressive array of films dealing with the inner workings of the psyche. Here are five favorites well worth revisiting to see how perceptions of mental health and illness and its treatment have changed.

Spellbound (1945, YouTube): I wish I hadn’t watched this on the cheap. Yes, it was free and it was the whole film, but it was grainy, choppy, and divided into a baker’s dozen segments. It was sort of like listening to music on an old eight track tape, which would go “Ka-thunk” in the middle of a song, completely disrupting the flow.  Regardless, this film provides an interesting look at Freudian psychology melded with a film noir mystery, all thanks to Alfred Hitchcock. Ingrid Bergman plays a psychologist (you know she’s a serious soul by her eyeglasses), who seeks to treat Gregory Peck, a guy with some memory issues (Is he a doctor, or a murderer?) and has a thing about straight lines on white. Romance ensues. Talk therapy, hypnosis and dream interpretation all play a key role in solving a murder mystery. The dream scene is daring and different, courtesy of Salvador Dali.

The Three Faces of Eve (1957, YouTube, Amazon, Google Play, Vudo): Here’s a film based on the premise that some goodbye kisses are more traumatic than others. Joanne Woodward won an Oscar for her outstanding work here portraying a woman with three distinct personalities. The film is based on the case of a Georgia woman with a condition now known as Dissociative Identity Disorder.  Lee J. Cobb provides sound supporting work as a by-the-book psychiatrist who diagnoses and treats Eve. No improper doctor-patient relationship here, just an intriguing portrait of a woman in crisis.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975, Google Play): Another Oscar winner, this time multiple wins, including Best Picture, Best Director (Milos Forman), Best Actor (Jack Nicholson), Best Actress (Louise Fletcher as the evil Nurse Ratched).  This film is more about individuality and rebelling against the system than mental illness. Nicholson portrays a ne’er do well who fakes mental illness so he will spend his time in a mental hospital instead of prison. He gets more than he bargains for when he takes on Nurse Ratched and the hospital staff.

Sophie’s Choice (1982, Amazon, Google Play): Meryl Streep more than earned her Best Actress Oscar as the title character, a troubled Nazi death camp survivor, but Kevin Kline was outstanding in a supporting role as her brilliant boyfriend who also happened to be dealing with paranoid schizophrenia. Kline holds his own with the often over-the-top Streep, and is thoroughly believable. It took me 30-plus years to work up the nerve to watch this draining, demanding film a second time, but it is well worth the investment.

Girl, Interrupted (1999, Google Play): Winona Ryder is the star, but it’s the supporting characters that make this film worthwhile, especially  Angelina Jolie, who won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her work as an amoral, wild child sociopath. Also fine in supporting roles are Clea DuVall as a young woman coping with molestation and an eating disorder, and a young Elizabeth Moss (Peggy from Mad Men) as a shy, scarred schizophrenic.

 

Further Review looks at films or television series worthy of a second viewing. What are your favorites films dealing with mental health issues? Contact Tharon Giddens at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

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