Films Illustrating Psychopathology Danny Wedding Mary Ann Boyd ...

236 Movies and Mental Illness
Powerful parallels with Columbine. Winner of the
Palm award at Cannes for Best Picture and Best
Director.
“And most importantly, have fun,
man!”
Final words of an adolescent to
his co-assassin preparing to
enter a school building in
Elephant
Equus (1977) Drama ΨΨΨ
Richard Burton examines the meaning and purpose
of his own life as he attempts to unravel the psychosexual
roots that led an adolescent to blind six
horses. Wonderful soliloquies by Burton.
Every Man for Himself and God Against All
(1975) Biography ΨΨΨΨΨ
Werner Herzog film based on a true story about a
man who spent an isolated childhood virtually
devoid of stimulation. This movie should be contrasted
with Truffaut’s film The Wild Child and the
more recent film Nell.
Face to Face (1976) Drama ΨΨ
Bergman film in which Liv Ullmann plays a suicidal
psychiatrist estranged from her husband and
14-year-old daughter. During a coma that results
from an overdose of sleeping pills, Ullmann
dreams about a childhood experience in which she
was punished by being locked in a closet.
Fanny and Alexander (1983) Drama ΨΨΨΨΨ
Bergman film about two young children and the
ways in which their lives change when their father
dies and their mother remarries. The film is sensitive,
tender, and haunting and shows how the world
looks through the eyes of a 10-year-old.
Firestarter (1984) Drama/Suspense Ψ
Early Stephen King film in which Drew Barrymore
portrays a young girl with pyrokinetic, telekinetic,
and telepathic powers. Barrymore is able to sets
fires simply by staring at whatever she wants to set
on fire.
Forbidden Games (1951) War/Drama ΨΨΨΨ
This beautiful French film is about two children
who create and share a private fantasy world. The
movie juxtaposes the innocence of childhood with
the horror of war.
Four Hundred Blows, The (1959)
Drama ΨΨΨΨΨ
Semiautobiographical film by François Truffaut
about a 13-year-old boy who is caught up in a life of
truancy and petty crime. His mother sleeps around;
his father is preoccupied and distant. Four Hundred
Blows is reported to be Truffaut’s favorite film.
Psychiatrist: “Your parents say
you’re always lying.”
Antoine Doinel: “Oh, I lie now and
then, I suppose. Sometimes I’d
tell them the truth, and they still
wouldn’t believe me, so I prefer
to lie.”
Antoine explains his behavior
to a psychiatrist in The 400 Blows
Gummo (1997) Independent ΨΨΨ
This extremely disturbing and unforgettable film
directed by Harmony Korine depicts life in a small,
rural town after its destruction by a tornado.
Despite the lack of a coherent plot, the film gets
high marks for its honesty and realism. Various
types of psychopathology are presented with an
emphasis on conduct disorders.
Holes (2002) Family ΨΨΨ
One of the better non-animated Disney films about
troubled youth who are sent to a work camp to dig
deep holes in the middle of the desert to help three
criminals find a lost treasure. Sigourney Weaver
has a memorable role in this film.
Innocents, The (1961) Horror ΨΨΨ
Deborah Kerr plays a governess hired to care for
two precocious children. Is she hallucinating or
delusional, or are there really ghosts in the house?
Interesting sexual tension develops between Kerr
and the boy. Based on the Henry James novella
Turn of the Screw.
Island on Bird Street (2000) Drama ΨΨΨ
Polish film about an adventurous, high-spirited
boy who escapes from Nazi control; inspired by
Robinson Crusoe, he creates a hide-out and waits
for his father’s return.
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)