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jpwhitehead
Reviews
Black Swan (2010)
you should already know what this movie is about
It was visceral, truncated, reminded a lot of Harold and Maude; please don't ask me why. The film flew about the topics of awareness and psychological and professional adventitiousness but it did not dwell for too long. I saw 'Nina' as having an exacerbated and untreated DID (disassociated identity disorder) or what we used to call an MP (multiple personality). But then again, maybe not; maybe its all exegesis. The film was brilliant and my first Aronofsky for the most part. I realize the budget was low but I lost a little in the digital image. The sound for the film made it up in a big way. I enjoyed the film on a gut level and the characters became like caricatures in a certain respect which I attribute to the image and screenplay. As far as being a psychological drama, it didn't really offend my sense of people with mental illness. In conclusion I applaud Aronofsky for not hamming up the titles which follow people with mental illness their entire lives, the subtlety was necessary and appreciated. It screened like a dream to me, albeit a nightmare, but a well wrought stripped down visceral dream.
Alice in Wonderland (2010)
a great film for children
I know there are many reasons I liked this film. Linguistically it was just shy of genius but I think Lewis Carroll had something to do with that. No, no it was that this was the first film I had seen in a long time that expanded the concept of mental illness to children in a friendly way.It had me laughing when no one else was! It was beautiful and not impossible to guess what Burton was getting at visually. Just a beautiful, brilliant film. 9 stars... It has been a rarity for mental illness to be portrayed to youngsters. we simply haven't known how to do it. Lewis Carroll did with his book but it almost seems to me with less confrontation. The actors and actresses were wild looking. The redemptive advice Alice gives to her aunt about dispelling delusion was classic. This is something I have been waiting for, now about trying The Phantom Tollbooth.
Adam (2009)
interesting, cute
At the point of pluralism for mental illness there is a lot that one could say about this film. I think its wonderful that Adam's girlfriend is making compromises. Its kind of neat but my real question is why this film was made about someone with Asperger's syndrome and not someone with Schizophrenia?
Actually I think I know the answer to that question. Its marketed by Fox Searchlight.
I can't remember the last film where one of the lead characters had Schizophrenia, outside The Soloist. (By the way Foxx's character really wasn't having sex in that film and I am pretty sure he wasn't having a kid)
Now that I think of it, a lot of films were made, Misery, Psycho, The Shining....and many many more!
You might decide why this modern masterpiece of pluralism should be successful, I still think it might, its sort of making people look nicer but it reminds me that we are all just bound by chemicals. So are film and video if you choose to see them that way.
Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)
fringe dweller.....yes...you'll get the story
This movie is on the periphery as it will be until time immemorial. The best writers lived back then, 'get him out of here...' yeah right, you say... I agree...the only reason we like to see this film over and over again is the Hollywood reincarnation of letters dropping again and again all over screenplays we know will probably work. The remake was kind of funny...if you like echolalia. I thought it worked though and did it. Like everything I comment on, this film skirts around the fabric of mental illness. This film isn't about heaven yet unconfirmed delusion. Heaven is important to me though and it probably is to the average over-American. The film overcomes all odds with nothing to say about 'the field of dreams.' It might attest to the amnesia of the dream-winner. I like that he wins her in the end. Its right for the pretty girl to go for the crazy guy....
Hobson's Choice (1954)
awesome, kind of like sunset boulevard
Alright you may ask me how I could justify such a title...right? I guess I should start with how I found the film...I must admit I went to the film forum David Lean double feature, this and 'the sound barrier.' To make a long story short I was laughing out loud to the former and almost crying to the second feature, not that it was depressing I was just learning how much variance there is in an amazing director like David Lean.
So back to the first statement. Much like Boulevard, this film touches on the aspects of delusion that tint our very framework of awareness. But surprisingly nobody knows about HC and they still mightn't ever find out. Its a tragedy, no wait a comedy, but hilarious still.
The film was mature, contemporary (although it might have been set in the 1890's) and questioned the overbearing overburdening parental relationships that sometimes weave our society together.
My only regret to the true parallel was that no one got a nose job in HC.
The Pumpkin Eater (1964)
mental health
A very interesting portrait of mental illness in the 1960's. I would trust no one other than Pinter with this task given the period.
As I heard depression was a word unspoken during this period. The film also gave interesting tints of the sixties but in terms of the mental health I would have liked it if Harold pinter gave more detail. But certainly it was true that Jo Armitage wasn't falling over herself to commit suicide. There was a certain element of ennui in terms of mental illness that certainly isn't present in today's films.
I thoroughly enjoyed this latter aspect and am still looking for its turn of the millennium parallel...
Perspective: Raw Material (1955)
neat film!
This film is a gem with pleasing cinematography.I recommend watching it even though the sound mightn't be so excellent. The film is shot in Canada in 1955 but it might as well have been New Jersey. The film makes use of artistic devices and well planned angles it seems like a beauty but makes you think of something better. The film does remind one of rebel without a cause but it seems to take more liberty in the stylistic devices it uses. The film helps us remember, though, the realities of the struggle of life that humanity fights and also gets a little cheesy. The structure of the low income community in 1950's Canada is a recurrent theme; I think it's kind of neat to see what it was like back then. It leaves you wanting more as perhaps a short should...nevermind.