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Tomety and Ned
�When you�re alone and life is making you lonely��
Based on a true story, Girl Interrupted follows the questionably diagnosed Susanna Kaysen, through
The DVD: Troubled star Winnona Ryder (Beetle Juice) and equally odd Angelina Jolie (Tomb Raider) join the fabulous Whoopie Goldberg (Sister Act) and Britney Murphy (Just Married) in a movie that was one of the most talked about releases in 1999.
�You can always go�Down Town!��Petula Clark
Directed by James Mangold, the movie reflects the time period very well. Although if it weren�t for costumes and a few props, we could easily be in the late 90�s.
I bought the DVD from my local video shop, and as Ned had been on about it for a while I decided to watch it and form my own view. Unlike Ned, I haven�t read the book, so my views are only based on the movie, and like so many other movies, a lot of feelings, senses and background information is missed out. Seeing as we don�t have the ability to read the characters minds, we miss the little details telling us what she�s thinking about as she commits herself to the hospital for example.
I really enjoyed the movie, and I can see why the chosen actors were gratefully awarded with nominations and accolades. Angelina won an Academy award, a Golden Globe, A Screen Actor�s Guild award and a Films critic association award for her portrayal of Lisa.
The movie received some shoddy reviews at the time, most thinking it was trashy and a waste of a good story, but I disagree.
Although all the characters are suffering from some terrible problems, it�s still possible to relate to one or two of them. It�s not an easy watch, for people who have never felt like an outcast, or have never been seen as something other than the norm. This is because a lot of the problems experienced by the women in the hospital are issues that have affected many of us, whether it be insecurities about looks, social awareness or the lack of love in your life.
It�s defiantly a thought-provoking movie, even though it�s subtle in doing so. It makes you question your ability and your grip on life as it is.
I give Girl, Interrupted 3 � out of 5 Demented Chickens�
The book: I read the book after seeing the film and was surprised to find how tiny and different it was. It�s arranged into chapters each on a different subject, such as the staff at the hospital and Susanna Kaysen�s attempt at suicide, all of which are very short. Only in the book do we find that the title comes from a Vermeer painting Kaysen saw before and after her stay at the hospital called Girl Interrupted at Her Music, which seemed to call to her and moved her to tears when she realised that she too was maybe just a girl, interrupted. The book�s plot is all a retelling of the writer�s experience, and for the film they understandable changed it to make it a fictionally tale which is almost completely different to the book. For example why did they change the name of the hospital in the film (the same one as Sylvia Plath stayed at in The Bell Jar) and make Valerie black and Susanna make some racist comments? In the book a nurse only 4 years older than her supervises her shave her legs which to me sounds more degrading than having the motherlike Whoopi Goldberg watching. Most of the things didn�t happen which you see in the film, and if they did then they happened very differently in real life. If you really want to fully appreciate the message which Girl, Interrupted gives us then read the book and see the film, both expand on each other�s issues and are equally moving. It doesn�t matter that it happened in the 60s, it�s still surprisingly relevant. Winona Ryder said that she wished she had read this book when she was a teen and it�s true that it does seem to relate to the experience of teenagedom. You don�t have to feel crazy or suicidal to relate to feeling that it isn�t going to get much better, but this book tells a story of how one average teenager thought that too but then saw differently when she made it out.
I give it 4 outta 5