When is girl interrupted set

Winona Ryder as an actress has always had a knack for capturing disconnection from other people, whether it's the older generation Edward Scissorhands , her high school peers Heathers or her competitors Black Swan. While Jolie often threatens to steal away the limelight, her performance is equally crucial to prevent the film from just being a collection of loud, angry, mad people about whom we would have no reason to care.

Like Brad Pitt in Twelve Monkeys before her, she stays just the right side of busy and histrionic, making the outbursts convincing and meaningful but also allowing the quiet moments to speak volumes.

It's a very fine performance which deserved to be recognised just as much as Jolie's. As for Jolie herself, she deserved most if not all of the plaudits she received both then and now. I said in my review of Wanted that she "always been in her element inhabiting individuals who are in some way damaged, conflicted, morally ambiguous or self-doubting". She takes Lisa, who could just be a sociopathic, controlling bitch, and slowly but surely teases out all the character's frustrations, neuroses and her emptiness as a person.

If you ever want to prove to a non-fan that there is more to Jolie than losing gorgeous or kicking ass, show them the sequence near the end of this film where she breaks down and attempts suicide.

It's a gut-wrenchingly honest and powerful moment which goes some way towards cementing this film's greatness. One of the criticisms that was made of Girl, Interrupted when it was released is that it was "melodramatic" - in other words, that Mangold had toned down and smoothed out the book to give the audience some form of closure over the character.

Keysen herself was displeased with the adaptation, branding the section in which Susanna and Lisa try to escape as "drivel" and criticising the filmakers for "inventing" whole sections which never reflected her story.

It's difficult to argue that this is the most faithful adaptation in the history of cinema, but as with The Imitation Game there is an argument for departing from the letter of historical fact if a deeper, more thematic truth is presented to the audience as a result. The key scene in the film, if not the key line, comes during Lisa's breakdown, when Suzanna declares: "Maybe everybody out there is a liar. And maybe the whole world is "stupid" and "ignorant". But I'd rather be in it.

I'd rather be fucking in it, then down here with you. If that revelation, and that whole scene, had come out of nowhere, then the film would have felt melodramatic, with the characters having to bend to the needs of the plot after an hour or so of character-driven storytelling.

But the escape beforehand lends it greater credibility, or at least makes the development more believable for an audience which has not endured her suffering. The taste of the outside world Susanna is given with Lisa and Daisy is bittersweet, and what joy they experience from their release is short-lived, shattered by Daisy's demise and Lisa's callous attitude towards it.

This is not a fairy tale in which the outside world is free from trouble; it is a different kind of prison, albeit one in which there are many different ways of dealing with what ails u. If nothing else, Girl, Interrupted deserves credit for taking such a mature approach while pitching to a predominantly younger audience.

Girl, Interrupted also looks fantastic, thanks in part to cinematographer Jack N. Both he and Mangold share a love of period detail and a desire to use historical quirks to shed light on character and mood; the drug store with simply 'Drugs' on the shopfront is both an accurate reflection of the setting and a nod to the blunt, unhelpful nature of the treatment.

Mangold's compositions alternate between intimate and intimidating, judging when to switch very deftly, and the colour scheme beautifully reflects the worn, frayed nature of the protagonists' mental states; the screen is filled with browns and worn yellows, the white surgical robes are dusty, and even the hospital has a tumble-down, faded quality. Girl, Interrupted is a powerful and compelling examination of mental illness which has aged extremely well and still resonates with modern audiences.

While the central performances remain both its driving force and its most famous characteristic, the film has great depth and honesty throughout, shedding light on a lot of important issues regarding mental health, abuse, manipulation and dependency. Regardless of what Susanna Keysen may think, it is a truly stunning film that should be seen by anyone who has the stomach for it.

Daniel M Super Reviewer. Apr 06, The angsty memoir by Susanna Kaysen that poses the argument of whether or not radicilisation of a youngster's psyche could be symptoms of mental illness and the battle between illness and indifference.

The memoir reads of the stay a young woman had at the same mental hospital that cared for Sylvia Plath and how she questions everything about herself, her life and her planet.

Girl, Interrupted the motion-picture waters down a heck of alot of the plot and replaces it with fictionalized and heavily dramatized events completely asbent from the real story, however it benefits from an all-star cast and impressive performances from Angelina Jolie and the late Brittany Murphy.

Harry W Super Reviewer. Nov 17, It doesn't really bring anything new to the table, but Girl, Interrupted is an entertaining drama with great performances from Angelina Jolie in her Oscar-winning role and Brittany Murphy. Joey S Super Reviewer. Jul 27, It's one of those you either love it or hate it film.

In this case I love it, one of the best films I've seen by far. I was quite surprised to see the low rating from the critics, it's a little gem that can't be missed.

All star studded cast was such a rare case to see. Jolie pulled it off as a sociopath, Ryder was fantastic, Brittany was cute, Bettis was fierce, DuVall was hilarious. I personally can relate to all the characters well, it's a superbly acted film, with perfect script writing, awesome soundtrack, witty storyline, never dull. The direction was great and filming techniques were greatly used. A must see. Sylvester K Super Reviewer. See all Audience reviews. There are no approved quotes yet for this movie.

Best Horror Movies. Worst Superhero Movies. Best Netflix Series and Shows. Go back. More trailers. Dexter: New Blood: Season 1.

The Shrink Next Door: Season 1. No Score Yet. Yellowstone: Season 4. Blade Runner: Black Lotus: Season 1. Gentefied: Season 2. The Game: Season 1. Always Jane: Season 1. Condor: Season 2. South Side: Season 2. Paris in Love: Season 1. I wasn't allowed to complain because I was 'so lucky,' you know, and so blessed, and I made a lot of money.

My problems weren't 'real problems' We are blessed, we are lucky, but the stuff that I was going through was difficult. She only stayed in the facility for a week and, when she left, she didn't feel as if being there had helped at all.

To this day a celebrity meltdown is still generally treated more as a headline-making spectacle than a teachable moment, though at least now—slowly but surely—discussions about mental health are far less taboo and increasingly common among high-profile people. Which, in turn, can be vital for those who may feel that there's something inordinately wrong with them, when in reality they're having an experience shared in one way or another by countless others.

If I had seen this movie at 19, I would have taken a lot of comfort in it… Life is just weird. Life is a mess. This world is a mess, and anyone who understands this world I would worry about… We're normal to feel crazy, in a way.

Indeed, almost everyone knows what it's like to feel as if you're losing your mind—or at least to be looked at by others as if you are. James Mangold , then known mainly for the gritty indie drama Copland that got a lot of attention before it came out because of Sylvester Stallone 's weight gain for the film some things don't change , was "the first person who had a clue" about how to bring Girl, Interrupted to life, Ryder recalled.

She had admired his directorial debut, Heavy , about a lonely diner cook whose life gets a needed jolt when a spirited college dropout played by Liv Tyler comes to work as a waitress, and thought Mangold was the man for the job.

It's easy to forget that the Oscar-nominated writer-director of the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line and the intense X-Men spin-offs The Wolverine and Logan was behind Girl, Interrupted , but he was the one who had the gritty vision for the film that won the day. Coincidentally, Mangold's latest film, the expansive car-racing epic Ford v Ferrari , is very much in the award season conversation right now, too.

At the time, indie darling Sarah Polley was poised to take a role she ultimately didn't , as was up-and-comer Angelina Jolie , who did. Jolie was earning major praise and would be nominated for an Emmy and win a Golden Globe for her breakout performance in the HBO biopic Gia , about the rise and horrific fall of supermodel Gia Carangi , but was not yet a movie star—all of which would change in But Ryder insisted they cast Jolie, and the role of diagnosed sociopath Lisa, Susanna's closest friend in the institution, greatly appealed to her.

Her Lisa, in particular, is endlessly charismatic, obviously intelligent and, as seen through Susanna's observant eyes, unfazed by the psychobabble they're being fed by assorted doctors. Yet Susanna eventually realizes that Lisa, for all her world-weary wisdom, is nonetheless unstable. The actress, who acknowledged identifying with Lisa, continued, "At the end of the film there's a certain sense of them saying to Lisa, 'Nobody wants you to live, nobody likes the way you are—you'd be better off if you were sedated and tied down and shut up If you feel that you're the kind of person she is, then it's really hard, because you're struggling with, 'F--k, am I just damaging to people everywhere?

Ultimately Girl, Interrupted 's main ensemble consisted of Ryder, Jolie, Brittany Murphy , Clea DuVall , Elisabeth Moss and Jillian Armenante , with Whoopi Goldberg playing nurse Valerie, Vanessa Redgrave and Jeffrey Tambor as resident psychiatrists, and Jared Leto as Susanna's boyfriend from the outside who knows she isn't crazy and can't understand why, after awhile, she doesn't mind being there so much.

Ryder told E! News at the time that she wanted to surround herself with the very best group of actors possible, the better to elevate her own performance. Along with Jolie, Goldberg was the other must-get for Ryder. News about agreeing to be in the film, which she described as "a nice, short gig. They all are conceivably the next real crop of actors. Not to say anything disparaging about the crop that's here now," Goldberg added, "but there is a difference in these girls than you'll find in almost any of the other group You look at them, you think, 'oh, you have it.

While this was ostensibly Ryder's movie going in, however, it was all Jolie going out, and the buzz surrounding her performance didn't stop until she was accepting the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in and informing the crowd that she was "so in love" with her brother in that moment. However, in the wake of the personal-is-political progressive movements of the sixties, the life writing of unknown citizens became more marketable.

We can all come up with lists of the nieces and nephews of Girl, Interrupted. The manuscript was rejected by a number of publishers before Grau accepted it. The book was a New York Times best seller for eleven weeks in hardcover and twenty-three weeks in paperback. Today there are 1. Prior to publication, though, Kaysen herself doubted that her book would make anything but a quiet debut.

When advance copies were being distributed to critics, the author went to Italy, expecting little attention. Vogue wants to interview you. Kaysen feels that her story, helped along by the Winona Ryder—starring movie adaptation, has taken on a life of its own.

She told me about her anthropological moxie and the time she spent living on the Faroe Islands.