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Thursday, April 30, 2009

Movies and mental health

A list on some most known movies that approaches mental illness. If you know any please leave a comment. Thank you.

A Beautiful Mind (2001) ~ Russell Crowe
After a brilliant but asocial mathematician accepts secret work in cryptography, his life takes a turn to the nightmarish.

An American Rhapsody (2001) ~ Scarlett Johansson
A young Hungarian girl struggles to find her place in the world when she's reunited with her parents in the USA years after she was left behind during their plight from the communist country in the 1950s.

As Good As It Gets (1997) ~ Jack Nicholson
A single mother/waitress, a misanthropic author, and a gay artist form an unlikely friendship.

Awakenings (1990) ~ Robert De Niro
The victims of an encephalitis epidemic many years ago have been catatonic ever since, but now a new drug offers the prospect of reviving them.

Blue Sky (1994) ~ Jessica Lange
Hank Marshall is a tough, square-jawed, straitlaced Army engineer and nuclear science expert, assigned to help conduct weapons-testing in 1950's America.

Brazil (1985) ~ Jonathon Pryce
In an Orwellian vision of the future, the populace are completely controlled by the state, but technology remains almost as it was in the 1970's. Sam Lowry is a civil servant who one day spots a mistake in one of the pieces of paperwork passing through his office. The mistake leads to the arrest of an entirely innocent man, and although Lowry attempts to correct the error, it just gets bigger and bigger, sucking him in with it.

Elling (2001) ~ Per Christian Ellefsen
40-year-old Elling--a sensitive, would-be poet, is sent to live in a state institution when his mother--who has sheltered him his entire life, dies.

Flightplan (2005) ~ Jodie Foster
A claustrophobic, Hitchcockian thriller. A bereaved woman and her daughter are flying home from Berlin to America. At 30,000 feet the child vanishes and nobody admits she was ever on that plane.

Frances (1982) ~ Jessica Lange
Based on the shocking, disturbing, and compelling life of Frances Farmer.

Girl, Interrupted (1999) ~ Winona Ryder
Based on writer Susanna Kaysen's account of her 18-month stay at a mental hospital in the 1960s.

Good Will Hunting (1997) ~ Robin Williams
Will Hunting, a janitor at MIT, has a gift for mathematics which is discovered, and a psychologist tries to help him with his gift and the rest of his life.

Iris (2001) ~ Judi Dench
True story of the lifelong romance between novelist Iris Murdoch and her husband John Bayley, from their student days through her battle with Alzheimer's disease.

Men of Honor (2000) ~ Robert De Niro
The story of Carl Brashear, the first African American, then also the first amputee, US Navy Diver and the man who trained him.

Nuts (1987) ~ Barbra Streisand
A high-class call girl accused of murder fights for the right to stand trial rather than be declared mentally incompetent.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) ~ Jack Nicholson
Upon arrival at a mental institution, a brash rebel rallies the patients together to take on the oppressive Nurse Ratched, a woman more a dictator than a nurse.

Ordinary People (1980) ~ Donald Sutherland
The accidental death of the older son of an affluent family deeply strains the relationships among the bitter mother, the good-natured father, and the guilt-ridden younger son.

Passion of Mind (2000) ~ Demi Moore
A psychological romantic thriller where fantasy and reality become indistinguishable for a woman leading a double life in her dreams.

Patch Adams (1998) ~ Robin Williams
A medical student in the 70's that treated patients, illegally, using humor. Based on the life of Dr. Hunter "Patch" Adams, founder of Gesundheit! Institute.

Postcards from the Edge (1990) ~ Meryl Streep
Substance-addicted Hollywood actress Suzanne Vale is on the skids. A semi-autobiographical story written by Carrie Fisher. Read her sequel: The Best Awful.

Shine (1996) ~ Geoffrey Rush
Pianist David Helfgott, driven by his father and teachers, has a breakdown. Years later he returns to the piano, to popular if not critical acclaim.

Splendor in the Grass (1961) ~ Natalie Wood
Pianist David Helfgott, driven by his father and teachers, has a breakdown. Years later he returns to the piano, to popular if not critical acclaim.

Stateside (2004) ~ Rachel Leigh Cook
The film follows a rebellious teenager on leave from the Marines who falls in love with a female musician. The relationship is threatened when she develops a mental illness.

Swimming Upstream (2003) ~ Geoffrey Rush
The true story of Tony Fingleton, a young man from a troubled family who found the inner strength to become a champion. Always overshadowed in his father's eyes by his brothers, it is only when Tony displays an extraordinary swimming talent that he feels he has a shot at winning his father's heart.

THX 1138 (1971) ~ Robert Duvall
THX 1138, LUH 3417, and SEN 5241 attempt to escape from a futuristic society located beneath the surface of the Earth. The society has outlawed sex, with drugs used to control the people. THX 1138 stops taking the drugs, and gets LUH 3417 pregnant. They are both thrown in jail where they meet SEN 5241 and start to plan their escape.

The Aviator (2004) ~ Leonardo DiCaprio
A biopic depicting the early years of legendary director and aviator Howard Hughes' career, from the late 1920s to the mid-1940s.

The Constant Gardener (2005) ~ Ralph Fiennes
A widower is determined to get to the bottom of a potentially explosive secret involving his wife's murder, big business, and corporate corruption.

The Hours (2002) ~ Nicole Kidman
The story of how the novel "Mrs. Dalloway" affects three generations of women, all of whom, in one way or another, have had to deal with suicide in their lives.

The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956) ~ Gregory Peck
An ex-soldier faces ethical questions as he tries to earn enough to support his wife and children well.

The Prince of Tides (1991) ~ Nick Nolte
A troubled man talks to his suicidal sister's psychiatrist about their family history and falls in love with her in the process.

What About Bob? (1991) ~ Bill Murray
A successful psychiatrist loses his mind after one of his most dependent patients, a highly manipulative obsessive-compulsive, tracks him down during his family vacation.

7 comments:

Mark Krusen said...

Rain Man

Ana said...

Yes!
That's great!
I'll add it to the list.
Thank you Mark!

Anonymous said...

Hey Ana! It's been a while between visits.

There's a great movie called 'Proof' which is about mental illness, too.

If you haven't seen it, I reccomend it! It stars Anthony Hopkins ans Gwenyth Paltrow.

Mark p.s.2 said...

I love the list!
I know of two movies from the 1970's but don't know their names.

One was a young (heard voices , saw indians dance in visions) woman who self harmed, but recovers with help from a shrink.

Another was depressing "night,_Mother_"(film)1986
Mary Elizabeth "Sissy" Spacek
a woman declairs shes suiciding, gets rid of all her things and her mother tries to talk her out of it.

bad news a typo
Splendor in the Grass (1961) ~ Natalie Wood

wrong description

Ana said...

Svasti,
I'm glad you are here.
I like your blog but I'm still not "conditioned" to visit you.
I'll ask Pavlov to make more exercises.
With Anthony Hopkins and Gwenyth Paltrow?
Wow! Great!
I'll try to see it.

Mark,
Love Sissy Spacey.
I'll look for both and try to add at the list.

Five more movies!

Anonymous said...

Mr. Jones, with Richard Gere. One of my personal favorites.

Sometimes I feel like the patients on "Awakenings" the way antidepressants work for just a short time and then let me back down again!

Ana said...

I don't know this with Richard Gere.
Awakening is great.
It's so disheartening when the effect stops!