Saturday, June 28, 2008
CRAZY
Today's NYTimes Best 1176 Film was
with Olivia de Havilland.
I saw this film when I was 11 and it had an indelible effect.
I knew I was going to see it today and had lightly bad dreams about it last night . Not nightmares. Just roiled up stuff.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest owes a lot to this film about a woman who has a nervous breakdown and is committed to a state asylum.
There is a Nurse Ratched and everything. The actual 'snake pit' scene is incredibly well played by a skillful ensemble of familiar B actresses.
The 'dance social' where the inmates sing together is a reach but we are ready to make the leap to sing along with them.
I am pretty sure that this clinical depiction was also responsible, in some respect, for the later decisions to deinstitutionalize mental hospitals.
The story is clean cut and straight forward while a reasonably accurate picture of psychotherapy and other modalities are used. Leo Genn is the therapist and Mark Stevens is the supportive husband.
It is a great movie and I would be more than happy to see it again.
That makes it a 4 out of Netflix5.
Labels: best films
