Page 222

Girl, Interrupted

Movie Girl, Interrupted Director James Mangold Producer Douglas Wick and Cathy Konrad

GIRL, INTERRUPTED, opens with an enigmatic line -- �Have you ever confused a dream with life?� The question comes from Susanna Kaysen (Winona Ryder), an 18-year-old wannabe writer whose personal confusions lead her to chase a bottle of aspirin with vodka. And subsequently she admits herself into a psychiatric hospital. Her two �interrupted� years here make for this absorbing film based on the true account book by the same name. More than a plot, this is a film capturing the teen angst of the sixties through an ensemble cast of characters as seen through Susanna�s eyes. She sees herself as saner than the others, but the distinction slowly blurs and prompts her to ask: �What exactly is crazy?� The late sixties was a period of turmoil in the United States as the baby boomers switched sides from the left wing radical to the conservative right wing. Something of this is reflected in the two key characters -- the free spirited Lisa and the confused Susanna. Lisa is provocative as she thinks she sees the problems of the inmates clearly and often leads them to self-destruct. Sussana�s bonding with Lisa creates a series of counterpoints where eventually they are both able to see their situation with more clarity. However, the film only completes the journey of Susanna while leaving a positive note for the others. The film tends to ring in memories of One Flew Over The Cuckoo�s Nest. However, it is quite a different and disturbing film with it�s host of borderline characters who are more often at the hospital because their rich parents could not handle their growing up pains. Like most ensemble films, Girl, Interrupted, is driven by its characters, each richly fleshed in and observed by Susanna. The one huge reason to see the film is the performances of the two main roles. Winona Ryder plays a low key Susanna with subtlety and grace while Angolan Jolie�s Lisa is fiery and unrestrained. Together they create magic. Vanessa Redgrave as the cool head of the psychiatric department, Whoopi Goldberg as the warm hearted nurse and Brittany Murphy as a chicken and laxative obsessed patient, Daisy have also put in powerful performances. The period of the late 60�s is evoked almost at the outset with Simon and Garfunkel�s Bookends and later with Downtown. The director, James Mangold, must be credited for clean simplicity of shots and neat editing. The underground climax is the one place where he appears to lose his hold on the script but quickly recovers in the finale. Eventually you may leave the hall a little disturbed but you will be rewarded for having seen the fine performances from a very talented bunch of actresses and a possible identification with your own teenage years.