Films about mental illness

Denerick

I've a morbid fascination with debilitating illnesses and how they're portrayed on film. I've seen the obvious ones like 'A Beautiful Mind', but maybe some people could offer forth some suggestions?

livinsane

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly perhaps, but its not about mental illness, but paralysis. It was received with glowing reviews.

phelixoflaherty

Anything with Daniel day Lewis

The Princess Bride

Shine ('96)- with Geoffrey Rush as pianist David Helfgott ( in & out of psychiatric institutions for more than a decade)- oscar winning performance, a sad .well told story.

Helfgott played at the Oscar ceremony the year Rush won- and it certainly looked as though Rush had played the part incredibly well-they could've passed for twins.

Highly recommended.

Technocentral

Denerick wrote: »

I've a morbid fascination with debilitating illnesses and how they're portrayed on film. I've seen the obvious ones like 'A Beautiful Mind', but maybe some people could offer forth some suggestions?

Might be a bit hardcore for you but "The Enigma Of Casper Hauser" by Hertzog, probably one of the most astonishing films I ever seen, the main actor was actually mentally ill. PS Not a mainstream Hollywood film!

The Pontiac

The Savages

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Bad Boy Bubby

The Princess Bride

And another one- "The Hours" (2002) - you could argue that most of the main characters were slightly touched- great film.

....could be posting all night, just google oscar nominated films over last 3 decades,you'll probably come up with a dozen.

Enjoy.

mike65

Birdy (1984)

clappyhappy

Rainman,didn't Dustin Hoffmans character have authism or something similar.

Denerick

<Ollie> wrote: »

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Recently read the novel and watched the film last night for the (sixth) time. My favourite film ever, hands down.

The Princess Bride

Primal Fear- Ed Norton and Richard Gere. One of Norton's earlier films.

Book by William Diehl worth reading beforehand.

number10a

Lisbeth Salander, the main character in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and the rest of that series, is said to be somewhere on the autistic spectrum - most likely Asperger's. Never been confirmed in the books or the movies, but seems right. I would definitely recommend the Swedish language versions of the films rather than the English language version (though only first one released in English so far).

Rabidlamb

Take Shelter
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/take_shelter/

Skerries

and remember - you never go full retard

RobbingBandit

Skerries wrote: »

and remember - you never go full retard

Sean Penn did in I am Sam and he went home empty handed.

InchicoreDude

"On the Edge" is a reasonable attempt at capturing what it means to be mentally ill in Ireland. And has a strong Irish cast (Cillian Murphy & Stephen Rea play the main characters). It is probably not the extremes of Beautiful Mind.... But then it shows that normal people can suffer mental illness (When will Ireland or the world realise this?)

I read somewhere that Sebastian Barry's "The Secret Scripture" was going to made into a film. While arguably not actually dealing with mental illness, that has the potential to be a mind blowing movie reveal a lot about pscyhiatric institutions in Ireland.

Sad Professor

number10a wrote: »

Lisbeth Salander, the main character in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and the rest of that series, is said to be somewhere on the autistic spectrum - most likely Asperger's. Never been confirmed in the books or the movies, but seems right. I would definitely recommend the Swedish language versions of the films rather than the English language version (though only first one released in English so far).

No. Lisabeth is not autistic. She is the victim of childhood abuse and mistreatment by the state, not a neurological disorder. There's a reason why she behaves toward certain people the way she does. Having said that, if she was a real person she would probably be misdiagnosed as autistic.

Rabidlamb wrote: »

Take Shelter
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/take_shelter/

I'd disagree about this as well. The film is about anxiety, not mental illness.

Surly

Spider

Cartman78

Not sure if it comes under the mental illness umbrella exactly, but would recommend 'The Machinist' with Christian Bale....very underrated movie imho.

Beruthiel

Black Swan.
That was some messed up girl.

D-FENS

Rabidlamb wrote: »

Take Shelter
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/take_shelter/

Is this out on DVD yet? would really like to see it.
Shannon is great at playing nutballs

JP Liz V1

msthe80s wrote: »

Primal Fear- Ed Norton and Richard Gere. One of Norton's earlier films.

Book by William Diehl worth reading beforehand.

It was all an act by Norton's character there was no split personality

livinsane

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

It was all an act by Norton's character there was no split personality

Still a study on the

split personality even if it was an act

. Great film and the perfect character for Norton -

smug little fecker

and I mean that in the nicest possible way

phil1nj

"Some Voices" a movie from 2000 with Daniel Craig and Kelly McDonald features a lead character (Craig) with schizophrenia. I caught it on TV late one night and thought it dealt with the subject matter fairly well.

number10a

Sad Professor wrote: »

No. Lisabeth is not autistic. She is the victim of childhood abuse and mistreatment by the state, not a neurological disorder. There's a reason why she behaves toward certain people the way she does. Having said that, if she was a real person she would probably be misdiagnosed as autistic.

Thanks for that one. Seems so blindingly obvious now that you've said it. It's like 2+2 really. *blushes at own simple-mindedness*

Still, amazing movies and book though!!

JP Liz V1

What’s Eating Gibert Grape - excellent performance from Leonardo DiCaprio as a mentally retarded person

Away From Her and The Notebook deal with Dementia

James74

Quick mention for "What's Eating Gilbert Grape". I don't think DiCaprio, and to a lesser extent Depp, have been better in any role since.

When it first came out I had never heard of Leonardo DiCaprio (18 odd years ago). I can remember thinking that they had gotten a great performance from a young lad with mental problems, only to be shocked when he later turns up in Romeo+Juliet.

James74

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

What’s Eating Gibert Grape - excellent performance from Leonardo DiCaprio as a mentally retarded person

Away From Her and The Notebook deal with Dementia

Damn it, 2nd by seconds

Fight club about a guy with possibly schizophrenia or some other split personality dissorder

As good as it gets, Jack Nicholson plays a man with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

D-FENS

Deleted User wrote: »

Fight club about a guy with possibly schizophrenia or some other split personality dissorder

Same goes for Secret Window (Stephen King adaptation with J.Depp)

D-FENS

D-FENS wrote: »

Same goes for Secret Window (Stephen King adaptation with J.Depp)

Couldn't think of the name of that one. Really enjoyed that movie.

What about the Shining, Misery, and to a lesser extent, Carrie?

Rabidlamb

D-FENS wrote: »

Is this out on DVD yet? would really like to see it.
Shannon is great at playing nutballs

Not out until March 19th according to Amazon.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Take-Shelter-DVD-Jessica-Chastain/dp/B005XYC08S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329306584&sr=8-1

I watched it about a month ago, I think you can guess how.
Shannon's performance is far stronger than most of the Oscar nominated male leads.

D-FENS

Reign Over Me perhaps?

Although he may have just been grieving badly / in a strange way, rather than mentally ill.

D-FENS

Rabidlamb wrote: »

Not out until March 19th according to Amazon.

I watched it about a month ago, I think you can guess how.

Was it via telepathy? if so, i'm impressed!

nicklauski

Girl, Interrupted is another one.

D-FENS

Deleted User wrote: »

Couldn't think of the name of that one. Really enjoyed that movie.

What about the Shining, Misery, and to a lesser extent, Carrie?

Misery could be a good shout

Jack Torrance in The Shining was more a victim of some sort of supernatural possession and Carrie was telekinetic / victim of abuse, don't think either were actually mentally ill

nicklauski

Could also say American Psycho. Pat Bateman isn't exactly the full picnic basket either.

GastroBoy

Just about any film I've seen him in, Ben Affleck generally portrays someone with a mental deficiency quite brilliantly. It's like he's a natural

Otis Driftwood

Clean,Shaven is an exceptional and criminally under seen gem about the effects mental illness can have on the family unit.Peter Greene is wonderfully understated in it.

blue note

nicklauski wrote: »

Girl, Interrupted is another one.

Amazed it took that long to mention. I found that a powerful one about mental illness.

Phony Scott

Shock Corridor (1963) is pretty wild in places, for example, a black character who thinks he's the founding father of the KKK and ends up starting a riot inside an asylum. It's great in parts, but it isn't one of director Sam Fuller's best efforts.

InchicoreDude

blue note wrote: »

Amazed it took that long to mention. I found that a powerful one about mental illness.

Yeah, very true. Unlike some of the other films mentioned here which deal with extreme psycho cases, Girl, Interrupted is a more realistic portrayal of mental illness.

Denerick

I watched 'Some Voices' the other night and thought it was excellent.

Any other schizophrenia related films?

poisonated

As good as it gets is a great movie. Match stick men is alright

frozenfrozen

Requiem for a dream (2000)

Drug induced mental illness.

tricky D

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Shutter Island
The Ninth Configuration

In the Mouth of Madness

And finally..... Simple Jack

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-n_zk7e0ZU

/gets coat

dark crystal

Frances, starring Jessica Lange is very good. It tells the true story of the mental decline of the actress Frances Farmer.

Lange also won an Oscar for her portrayal of a mentally unstable woman in Blue Sky.

If you want something more hard edged, check out the 1967 documentary Titicut Follies. Banned until 1992, it details life behind the walls of the state prison for the criminally insane in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, exposing the treatment of inmates by guards, social workers and psychiatrists. It's a tough, but fascinating watch.

FouxDaFaFa

If you want something a bit lighter, you could try "It's Kind of a Funny Story". It's about a teenage boy who checks himself into an adult psych ward the night he plans to kill himself. It's funny in a sort of gentle way and there's a great (more restrained and natural than usual) performance by Zach Galifianakis.

Out of darkness was a good movie from what I remember, but it's a very long time since I watched it. Diana Ross stars.

guapos

Melancholia
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1527186/

spacecoyote

I'm A Cyborg, But Thats OK

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0497137/

Very nice movie from the Director of Old Boy, definitely worth a watch. Very quirky and surreal, but also with real heart