Madness is rare in individuals - but in groups, parties, nations, and ages it is the rule --Friedrich Nietzsche
Sanity is very rare: every man almost, and every woman, has a dash of madness --Ralph Waldo Emerson
There have been many films which try to exploit minds which cannot cope with emotional difficulties but very few of such films have actually made a place in the minds of the viewers, One who flew over cuckoo’s nest is the best film that comes to the mind when talking of a person struggling to keep sane. The protagonist here was Jack, a social misfit who isn’t mad but yet ends up in a mad house & in Girl, Interrupted we have Winona Ryder who has to go through teenage confusion & lots of madhouse drama, to find her trueself.
Sometimes to be sane, we have to be little crazy......... Girl, Interrupted
The story is set in 1967 where a teenage author Susanna Kaysen [Winona Ryder] is labeled as ’’promiscuous, ’’ bcoz she had a fling with a friend of her parents, tried to commit suicide, didnt want to go to college as her other friends did & has no plans for her future. A visit to the psychiatrist quickly ends with Susanna being diagnosed with a Borderline Personality Disorder [to me she looks like any teenager going through same confusions & complexes we all are familiar with] & when her psychiatrist suggests getting admitted for treatment, Susanna is persuaded to check into Claymore mental institution. However, she is not aware that she cannot voluntarily check herself out from the hospital & is in for a shock meeting her other ’room mates’ as she appears to be the sanest patient in the ward. Naturally, she wants to get out as soon as she arrived. ’’Am not mad, just here to rest’’ is what Susanna says to the ward nurse Valerie [Whoopie Goldberg]; who later tells Susanna during one of her tantrums ’’You are a lazy, self-indulgent little girl who is driving herself crazy’’
Forced to stay in the institution Susanna meets a group of young girls who are also suffering from different eccentricities [ I say eccentric coz none of the girls are actually suffering from any serious mental illness, they all are victims of some or the other severe inferiority complexes]. The one girl who impresses Susanna most & gets close to her is Lisa (Angelina ’’luscious lips’’ Jolie), a free spirited almost sociopath girl who has no fear & does whatever she likes but she has a heart of stone. Constantly chiding the other girls, Lisa is a longtime patient who escapes & keeps coming back to Claymore. It isnt long before Susanna is totally under Lisa’s spell.
The other girls who form a friendship group with Susanna are Daisy ; who has a relationship with her dad & is addicted to chicken & laxatives, Polly ; a burn victim who has a heart of gold, Georgina ; a girl who is obsessed with Dorothy from the film Wizard of Oz. These girls soon become Susanna’s closest friends & yet all the time Susanna wants to get out.
When Daisy’s father gets her away from the institution & puts her in an apartment, Lisa & Susanna escape & take shelter in her apartment. What happens there would change the lives of the three girls as well as those back at Claymore, it would also make Susanna strong enough to fight her way to get out in the real world & find herself back, to live her life as she wills...
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The Film/Performances :
Directed by James ’’Copland’’ Mangold; this story is based on the true life experience of writer Susanna Kaysen, owing to which it is not as dramatic as the One Who flew........ but at the sametime it appears to be very believable. The film seems to be heavy inspired by One who flew........ Lisa’s character can be compared to that of Jack Nicholson’s in One Flew Over. . . both are open to dramatic confrontations & anti-authorisation, there is also a field trip where the patients have the time of their life. Mangold has handled the story & intense scenes with his trademark expertise, keeping the pace of the film interesting all the time.
Winona Ryder is very convincing as the confused neurotic teenager & as the movie progresses so does her character, Ryder takes us through various emotions : sassy when she counter questions her psychiatrist, helpless when she cannot leave the madhouse, loving when she refuses to leave without her friends & strong when she stands upto her friends-turned-enemies in the climax. Ryder plays Susanna oh-so-perfectly.
However it is Angelina Jolie who is the scene-stealer! Jolie is fabulous in scenes which mostly just require her to stare in mockery & she expresses best with her facial expressions & body language. When she says ’’never stick your finger out at a crazy person’’ she looks exactly as the director wants to portray her ; a wild crazy female who wont hesitate to bite off the finger pointed at her. Jolie with her intense performance comes across as a really hopeless nutcase.
A must mention is Whoopie Goldberg who plays the no-nonsense nurse Valerie & comes across as being more wise, sensitive & supportive than any of the doctors in the hospital. Known for her comic acting, Whoopie has played this somber role with as much ease as she does comedy roles.
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My Word :
I am a sucker for ’’films based on true stories’’ & this one based on the author’s two years in a psychiatric institution sounded too good to be missed. I admit not liking the film on first viewing but last week me had a 2nd dekho & ended up understanding it better, guess such movies shouldn’t be watched in theatres admist popcorn eatg audiences.
Though it doesn’t even come close to the effect One Who Flew......... has on our mind, Girl Interrupted does get you wondering about stuff in life. Watching Susanna struggle with her confused emotions & weird situation, makes one realise how lucky we are to manage surviving the real world without having to go through a similar experience as Susanna. Not all are capable of handling stress/depression without losing our mental balance, this movie makes one thankful & content for all that we have......... I know I am :)