Films involving Mental Illness

Mental Illness: Major Films

Title	Angel at My Table An , (1990) (TV Film)
Alternative/Original Title
Disability	Mental
Country	New Zealand
Length	158
Genre	Drama
Rating	4
Director	Jane Campion
Cast	Kerry Fox Alexia Keogh Karen Fergusson Iris Churn K.J. Wilson Martyn Sanderson
Notes	The true story of a young New Zealand working-class girl, Janet Frame, who was misdiagnosed as a schizophrenic resulting in her going into a mental hospital for eight years. She later became a famous novelist and poet. A long slog better watched in the three parts in which it was originally shown. The story is told too literally and in a monotone with little humorous relief from the harsh reality. The scenes in the mental hospital are realistic and harrowing especially when she is subjected to E.C.T.. This film is a slice of working-class history and told in all its ugly bareness, bruised knees and red faces. That someone so shy could have braved the strangeness of travelling is a mark of courage since she could much more easily have stayed at home. Her shyness persists even after she is a published novelist and has lived in England and Spain. But those who can stay with the film will be rewarded. When I was younger I had an almost infinite capacity for boredom in the face of art and meaningfulness and would have soaked up this film and emerged with an "affirmative experience". There's a review at The Women's Studies Database: http://www.inform.umd.edu/EdRes/Topic/WomensStudies/FilmReviews/angel-at-table-mcalister

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