magnificent

Rating: 8/10 (7 February 2005)

SPOILERS Let's be honest for a moment. As humanity settles itself into a new millennium, there are so many aspects of life which we remain ignorant about. One aspect in particular is the realm of the human mind. With countless philosophical theories designed to explain the interaction between the brain and the body, science is still at a major loss to explain it. In the modern world we deal with the mentally ill through discussion and pumping them full of drugs. It's a practise which has been in use for decades in one form or another and it remains a practise which treats the ill with a varied degree of success.
If we look back in time at the 1960s however, the process was of a similar format. People would be locked in an institute, pumped full of drugs, and often for the simple fact that their behaviour was different to the social climate. "Girl, Interrupted" was a book written by a woman who experienced this case of affairs and whilst altered slightly in story, the film adaptation is a brilliant story which raises more questions about mental health, than it cares to answer.
Susanna Kaysen (Winona Ryder) is a "promiscuous" rebel who spends her time depressed and pondering her death. With an alternative point of view to people of her time (but a mind-scape that most modern teenage Goths would probably agree with) she finds herself placed in a mental hospital. There she meets interesting people, both doctors and patients, as she tries to come to terms with her own mind.
Sometimes labelled as the female equivalent of "One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest", "Girl, Interrupted" is a clever film which leaves you questioning your mental health throughout. Based on the book by Susanna Kaysen, it has insider information giving it a solid basis.
In the lead role, Winona Ryder gives perhaps her finest performance to date as she questions everything around her before she begins to question herself. Whether she ever really needs the hospital in the first place, or whether it does her any good or not, is open to interpretation, but from the first moments of the film, she keeps us involved with the character and never allows us to stop caring about her.
In a mirror image of Ryder, Angelina Jolie plays the sociopathic Lisa. Coming from a broken home, Lisa is another of these characters who you find it very difficult to understand just how sane she is. Jolie manages to give the character an air of menace throughout the film, whether friendly or aggressive. She provides a solid character, and whilst Ryder arguably deserved more award recognition for her role, Jolie is definitely worthy of the Best Supporting Actress Oscar which she won with this role.
Both women's superb performances are also helped by some great acting by the rest of the cast. Including an impressive Brittany Murphy, Clea DuVall, Whoopi Goldberg, Jared Leto and Vanessa Redgrave, the acting is always above standard and hard to fault.
In a time of social revolution, there was (as is ever) a thin line between genius and insanity. Whilst people like Martin Luther King changed the world, there were others who were locked up for mental instability. Whether they were truly insane or not is a difficult question to answer. But set at this time of great importance, it is magnificent films like "Girl, Interrupted" that ironically open our minds and get us thinking. Highly recommended.