Films Illustrating Psychopathology Danny Wedding Mary Ann Boyd ...

Appendix G: Films Illustrating Psychopathology 231
People Say I’m Crazy (2003) Documentary ???
Cinema verite styled documentary of the daily life
of a man with paranoid schizophrenia. Interesting
for discussions on differentiation of schizophrenia,
schizoaffective disorder, and mood disorders.
Deeply honest, enlightening, and inspiring.
“I cannot trust my own
perceptions.”
John Cadigan who directs
and plays himself
in People Say I’m Crazy
Perfect Strangers (2003)
Drama/Suspense ΨΨ
A mysterious man (Sam Neill) invites a woman he
has just met to his private island home and then
kidnaps her. The two become romantically
involved, and she nurses him back to health after
he is injured. His obsessions transfer to the woman
who frequently hallucinates after her lover dies.
Possessed (1947) Drama ΨΨΨ
Joan Crawford stars in a suspenseful film depicting
catatonic schizophrenia with examples of waxy
flexibility and numerous other symptoms of severe
mental illness.
Promise (1986) Drama ΨΨ
A made-for-TV movie, starring James Garner,
about a man who honors a commitment made to
his mother to care for his brother with schizophrenia.
Excellent illustrations of the symptoms of
schizophrenia.
Repulsion (1965) Horror ΨΨΨΨΨ
Powerful, unforgettable film about sexual repression
and psychotic decompensation. Memorable
examples of hallucinations (e.g., arms reaching out
from walls); the film culminates in an unforgettable
murder scene. This was Roman Polanski’s
first English language film.
Ruling Class, The (1972) Comedy ΨΨΨΨ
Brilliant British black comedy in which a member
of the House of Lords inadvertently commits suicide
and leaves his fortune and title to his son who
is delusional and has schizophrenia (Peter
O’Toole), who believes he is Jesus (at first) and
later Jack the Ripper.
Saint of Fort Washington, The (1993)
Drama ΨΨΨ
A man with schizophrenia is evicted from his
home winds up in a shelter, where he is befriended
by a street-wise Vietnam veteran. Good portrayal
of the life of people who are both mentally
ill and homeless.
Santa Sangre (1989) Horror/Thriller ΨΨΨΨ
A disturbing film about a young man forced to witness
the mutilation of his mother and the suicide of
his father. We never know if these events are real or
simply delusions of a patient. The film is complex
and visually stunning.
Scissors (1991) Suspense Ψ
The paranoid delusions of a traumatized young
woman take on a frightening reality when she finds
her assailant dead.
Scotland, PA (2001) Comedy ΨΨ
Dark comedy that’s a subtle parody of Macbeth,
about greed, power, love, and “going crazy.” A
young couple who take over the work at a restaurant
after killing the owner, begin to deteriorate
with rumination, guilt, and poor coping as police
detective (Christopher Walken) investigates the
murder case.
“David, if you go you will never
come back to this house again.
You will never be anybody’s son.
The girls will lose their brother. Is
that what you want?... You want
to destroy the family... if you love
me you will stop this nonsense.”
David Helfgott’s father
admonishes him about leaving
home in Shine
Shine (1996) Biography/Drama ΨΨΨΨΨ
True story of David Helfgott, an Australian
prodigy whose brilliant career is interrupted by
the development of an unspecified mental illness
that is probably schizophrenia. The film
not so subtly suggests that David’s domineering
father was directly responsible for his mental
illness and conveys the misleading but endearing
message that love and hope can conquer
mental illness.
From: Wedding, D., Boyd, M.A., & Niemiec, R.M. Movies and Mental Illness: Using Films to Understand Psychopathology
© 2005 Hogrefe & Huber Publishers (www.hogrefe.com)