Art of Psychiatry Society

Meeting tonight – Wednesday 2nd May 2012

Screening of Shock Head Soul

Small Lecture Theatre Institute of Psychiatry 6.00pm

Followed by discussion with Helen Taylor-Robinson (screenwriter and psychoanalyst) and Clive Robinson (psychiatrist) who appears in the film.

Born in 1842 Daniel Paul Schreber was a successful German judge.  In this middle age he developed delusions of control, suffering the belief that he was shifting gender and that his body was subjected to cruel ‘miracles’. He was diagnosed as having dementia praecox and spent time in an asylum.

In an effort to be judged sane enough to return to living with his wife and daughter, Schreber described his illness in his book Memoirs of My Nervous Illness.  This became influential in the history of psychiatry and psychoanalysis due to its interpretation by Sigmund Freud.

Shock Head Soul interleaves documentary interviews, fictional re-construction and CGI animation to portray Schreber’s story. The film’s mix of forms creates both a love story and a cinematic essay that explores the borderline between religious vision and deluded fanaticism, and explores the intimate link between family secrets, psychiatric diagnosis, and the limits to our contemporary understanding of mental illness.

The film is directed by Simon Pummell and was shown at both the Venice and London film festivals.  More details of the film here

(Unfortunately this is not a public meeting and is for employees of the Institute of Psychiatry/South London and the Maudsley Trust and by invitation)

Michael Fassbender seems to have a thing about sex.  First he appears as Brandon in Shame, Steve McQueen’s unflinching examination of disturbed sexuality and damaged relationships, and then he plays a repressed, sado-masochistic Carl Jung spanking a gasping and grimacing Keira Knightley in David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method, which purports to explore the origins of psychoanalysis and the relationship between Jung and an omniscient, perpetually cigar-puffing, paternalistic Viggo Mortensen as Freud.

The former is by far the more successful film.  I went with some reluctance, having read reviews that it was about ‘sex addiction’.   In the event, it was a sensitive treatment of two broken individuals, a brother and sister (borderline personality disorder played to perfection by Carey Mulligan).  Brandon acts out his internal bleakness through compulsive sexual acts both with himself and others, ultimately resorting to homosexual and orgiastic sex in self-flagellating desperation.  The sex and nudity are unadorned and in the Greek sense of the word, pathetic.  Eros is conspicuously absent, and when Brandon is offered the opportunity of a consensual, adult sexual relationship, he backs out in confusion and, true to the film’s title, shame.

There are no easy solutions, and no comforting explanations as to why the brother and sister ended up this way, though there are hints of significant childhood traumas, and it is hard to escape the conclusion that Brandon and his sister were subject to extensive sexual and emotional abuse in childhood.  All in all, it was a moving and accurate portrayal of psychopathology which was all too familiar.

‘A Dangerous Method’, co-written by Christopher (‘Dangerous Liaisons’) Hampton and based on his stage play, was not so much dangerous as dull.  After a melodramatic start, in which Keira Knightley as Sabina Speilrein is forcefully carried, rigid and screaming, into a mental institution, where she is ‘cured’ by Herr Doctor’s Jung’s painstaking talking treatment, it rapidly dwindles into a cross between an inaccurate bio-pic and soft porn.

The film follows with breathless fascination, not necessarily shared by the viewer, the affair between Jung and his ex-patient, and the gentle but beautiful suffering of his gentle but beautiful wife.  For good measure there are technically laboured conversations between Jung and Freud about the importance of various precepts central to their new method of treatment, which Freud has decided to call psychoanalysis, which bear as much resemblance to real clinical discussions as Dumbo does to a real elephant.

It did, however, feature lots of big psychiatry names in bit parts such as Eugen Bleuler (‘do have a go with your new treatment, Dr Jung, because my methods have failed’ – I may have misquoted a tad) and Ernest Jones, whose appearances would have significance for almost nobody apart from psychiatrists of a certain vintage.  The lovely Vincent Cassel was a deliciously reprobate Otto Gross, and the cast list told us that we also caught a glimpse of the young Anna Freud, though I had no idea which one was her amongst the many Freudlets gathered round a dinner table.

To resume:  Shame – compulsory viewing for all practising clinicians; A Dangerous Method – I’d prefer to take the medication.

by Dr Abby Seltzer

Picture credit: Momentum films

Medfest is a medical film festival coming up soon.  They say:

In May 2011, the UKs first national medical film festival, “Medfest”, was established. Organised by a group of psychiatrists, its purpose was primarily to encourage medical students to choose a career in psychiatry, but ultimately the 9 events held around the UK drew an audience of students, health professionals, actors, filmmakers, scriptwriters, the public….. and indeed patients. It was a huge success, and was enthusiastically reviewed in “The Lancet”

MedFest is running again and in 2012 will be extending to events across 16 universities (with an anticipated audience of over 1,000) and is broadening its scope to all medical specialities. The theme this year is: HealthScreen: Understanding Illness through Film

We aim to provoke debate of the social, political and ethical implications of depictions of health and illness on our screens, not only in the form of Hollywood film, but also public health campaigns and advertisements. Such depictions are hugely powerful: When inaccurate, they can create myths and incite stigma; but when correctly presented, they have the potential to empower patient groups and dispel prejudice. We will be watching short films from The Wellcome Trust archive collection, charitably funded campaigns such as Animated Minds, and some silver screen successes and nightmares! Topics such as childhood obesity, autism, HIV and OCD will have prominent coverage.

Our diverse panellists include doctors, filmmakers, medical ethicists, social scientists and media celebrities with an interest in medicine. We look forward to welcoming the Prodcuer and Director of BBC2’s “Great Ormond Street”  Simon Gilchrist, author Max Pemberton, BBC’s ‘Radio Doctor’ and GP Stuart Flanagan, film director Mat Whitecross and  stand-up comedian Paul Sinha, amongst many others.  All events are FREE and will take place in February and March 2012. For further details on dates, venues and much much more, please visit www.medfest.co.uk

Here One Day trailer from Kathy Leichter on Vimeo.

Kathy Leichter is a documentary film producer and director.  Kathy is currently in production on HERE ONE DAY, a documentary which follows Kathy’s quest to understand how living with her mother’s mental illness and losing her to suicide have impacted her and her family.  The film is unfinished and Kathy is fundraising.

Here she tells us about the project.  The trailer is above.

Blog

Kickstarter campaign link

Can you tell us about the film you are making?

HERE ONE DAY is a jaw-droppingly beautiful, emotionally gripping documentary that explores the effect of my mother’s bipolar disorder and suicide on my family. The film is an intergenerational tale of discovery, an adult daughter’s coming of age story, and an exploration of how mother-loss reverberates across generations. It is also a joyous celebration of life, love, and the powerful connection between mother and child. The film documents my journey to let go of my mother after living many years with her mental illness and eventual suicide in 1995. The film also looks at mother-loss across generations in my family and my experience now as a new mother parenting my children with this legacy.

How much is this a film about a family tragedy and how much does it also seek to explore the experience of bipolar suffers today?

My mother was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1974.  What followed was a long, sometimes successful, sometimes nightmarish, struggle with various medications and a gradual, reoccurring slide from mania into depression which we describe in the film. Her experience of the illness and its effect on others is vividly portrayed.  But, while HERE ONE DAY is about mental illness and suicide, all too common experiences that remain alarmingly taboo and dreadfully need more public discussion, it is also about the universal experiences we all have of holding onto and letting go of people we love, the ever-changing parent/child relationship, and how our emotional experiences, not just our biology, get passed down from one generation to the next.

How difficult has it been for you to make a film on such a personal subject?

I never thought I would ever make a personal documentary before I started this film. But then, when thinking in 2004 about my next project, I looked deep inside and knew that it was my own story that I had to tell before I could help anyone else tell theirs. There are a lot of emotional challenges that one experiences making a film like this, but I have grown from each one and learned a tremendous amount. So, the film has been a real journey of healing for me that might have happened another way but I think it happened faster and perhaps more deeply because the work is so personal. The personal subject matter also brought me closer to my family and gave us a reason to talk about this very painful, but also important experience in our lives and also a chance to look back and remember and celebrate my mother too.

You say that the film follows your family that they ‘attempt to make sense of what happened and go on with their lives’ – what ways did your family find to cope?

We all coped in different ways—some of us by sitting right in the middle of the grief and swimming around in it and some of us staying as far away from it as possible. I think everyone deals with these things in their own way and on their own time. I would like to say that we were very together around this loss, but it was a mixture. Sometimes it felt like we were dealing with it on our own like separate islands and other times it felt like a journey we were all on together. We are still coping, although it is much easier now and there is more space for joy and delight in all things.

Your mother was diagnosed as bipolar in 1974, and you are making the film nearly forty years later.  Have you used a lot of cine footage?

We are using a lot of super 8 home movie footage from my family, which happens to be in great shape. It’s a terrific element and really helps Nina to come alive.

How do you see this film helping other families who are in a similar situation of that of your own?

The film has moved many to write in and share their stories, personal experiences, questions, and resources. We are already creating a vital on-line community of support and we hope to continue this once the film is finished. Ending the silence is a crucial part of mitigating the isolation many families feel. We want to show people that it is ok and even good to tell our stories. We want to shatter taboos and reduce stigma. No one should have to feel the range of feelings one feels alone. We need to talk more openly about our experiences to help raise awareness about these issues, change public perception of the mentally ill, help others to get help and bring more funding to research and other public resources.

Your film is not finished but there’s a fund raising campaign. Has it been hard to raise money for a subject such as this?

Fundraising for anything in this economy is challenging and especially for independent film. But, I believe deeply in independent media and the work we are doing so the hard work is worth it. In fact, we have been extremely successful raising funds since the film’s inception–our supporters come from all over the world! To date, there are over 300 Here One Day contributors and they are a fantastic group of people! Our fundraising has been very personal and intimate and the people who have donated really care about the themes of the film and others in the community of backers.

Though time consuming, the fundraising has connected me with wonderful people—some I knew well and some I met for the first time during this process.

Why is the June 1st deadline so important?

We have until the morning of June 1st to raise $25,000 on Kickstarter.com.

Please check out our campaign and consider making a pledge

Every dollar helps to keep us in the edit room in order to finish the film. Pledges are tiered with each tier offering beautiful keepsakes and rewards depending on your donation level. If Here One Day doesn’t reach its $25,000 goal in 30 days, nobody pays and we don’t get the funds. We are under the gun to have the film completed in time for a premier screening at the American Psychiatric Association’s 63rd Institute on Psychiatric Services in San Francisco this October.  The Institute will be attended by over 1,500 mental health professionals from around the globe.

It’s a perfect venue for the film.

Are there any other films or books on the subject of this film that you would recommend to the readers of this blog?

My friend, Dempsey Rice, made a great film called Daughter of Suicide. I also liked Doug Block’s 51 Birch Street which has nothing to do with suicide, but is a great personal documentary. No Time to Say Goodbye is a great book by Carla Fine as is Touched By Suicide which she wrote with Michael Myers. I also liked Hurry Down Sunshine by Michael Greenberg about his daughter’s mental illness and Living a Year of Kaddish by Ari Goldman about grieving the loss of his father. I also liked In Her Wake, by Nancy Rappaport, There are many more books and films that I could mention but these are some of the ones that first come to mind.

The last temptation of Chris is a short film directed by Marcus Markou.  Chris, played by Ed Stoppard, is a marriage guidance counsellor.  And a very successful one judging by the size of his consultation room. One day, Nicky – his first girlfriend – walks in with her husband, looking for his help. Worth a watch.

Guardian Society reports that a film call The Veteran will be released in April.  It’s co-written by Robert Craft who is an ex-soldier.

The Guardian report focuses on the mental health aspects of the film.  Craft reportedly has based the lead character of The Veteran on his own experience of serving on the frontline and “fighting his demons”.  The articles goes on to say that film deals with the difficulties that soldiers have in adjusting to civilian life and the psychological scars of war.

Based on this I might have expected this film to be a cross between Fishtank and The Deer Hunter.  However the distributors – Revolver Entertainment – make it sound much more like Rambo.

Soldier Robert Miller returns home from Afghanistan unable to fit back into society.

Finding work in the undercover surveillance of suspected terrorists, he becomes obsessed with saving a young Anglo-Asian woman from a group of fanatics . When his plan to assassinate the fanatics is sabotaged by the security services his rage spirals out of control. Taking the situation into his own hands, Robert embarks on a brutal quest for justice, with devastating consequences.

Starring BAFTA winner Toby Kebbell in a career-defining performance as Robert, the film also stars multiple award winner Brian Cox and Ashley “Bashy” Thomas. Evocative of 70′s classics such as Taxi Driver and The Conversation, The Veteran is a powerful and thrilling insight into the mind of a man who refuses to back down.

The Veteran is released on April 29 2011

The Veteran official website

I wrote a piece about PTSD some time ago which may interest.

Photo credit US Army IMCOM