A closer look and creepy diaries: how directors reveal the topic of mental disorders

The topic of mental disorders has become one of the central topics in today's pop culture in general and in cinema in particular. Schizophrenia ("Clean, Shaved"), PTSD ("Jacob's Ladder"), psychosis ("Black Swan", "Shine"), endless stream films about psychopaths - mental illness has interested directors for most of history cinematography.

True, it was far from always possible to reliably convey the emotions of a person with a mental illness, but it was spectacular or even frightening - as much as you like. Here are the methods used for this.

1. A closer look at the camera

Dr. Hannibal Lecter from The Silence of the Lambs (1990) has become one of the main movie villains, and the moment in which the hero looks directly into the camera makes a lasting impression. Actor Anthony Hopkins borrowed the idea of ​​the unblinking gaze from filming the interrogations of Charles Manson and Ted Bundy, and for good reason: the viewer gets the feeling that he is peering into a black abyss.

The same approach was used Stanley Kubrick in the provocative A Clockwork Orange (1971). Malcolm McDowell glares straight at the audience from under his brows, hinting unequivocally that there is a lot in common between us and his psychopathic hero.

You don't need to look far for a modern example either. Here's a heavy look from Rosamund Pike's Amy Dunn. But to understand what is really going on in her beautiful head, you do not need to break her skull, as her husband secretly dreams about it. You can just watch David Fincher's skillfully executed thriller Gone Girl (2014).

In general, psychopaths on the screen are a separate topic for conversation: their images are as scary as they are interesting for the viewer. But other types of mental disorders can be shown on the screen in an unusual way. After all, there are many ways to do this.

2. Giving special meaning to color

To show that the hero is not himself, directors often resort to the symbolism of color. So, yellow in popular culture often means madness, insecurity and anxiety. Probably, the 1892 short story The Yellow Wallpaper by the American writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman created such a reputation for him. The heroine of the story, suffering from postpartum psychosis, is imprisoned in a room with yellow walls. Gradually, it begins to seem to her that a woman lives behind the wallpaper, which needs to be released.

Arthur Fleck in Joker (2019) often appears in yellow clothes, and the scene in the asylum is completely filmed using a yellow filter. In Split (2017), James McAvoy's character, who suffers from multiple personality disorder, wears a canary jacket in one of his most memorable incarnations.

IN mysterious horror film "Mom!" Darren Aronofsky, the heroine drinks some kind of yellow liquid. The web is still arguing what it could be. One version is a reference to the aforementioned Gilman story.

Another theory says that the heroine, oppressed by the patriarchal culture, is applied to an incomprehensible drink, to suppress the anger arising inside and over and over again through force to return to the role of the guardian of the home hearth.

Biopic "Spencer" (2021), telling about a few days in the life Princess Diana, closely affects the topic of depression. In addition, many biographers of the princess believe that she may have suffered from borderline personality disorder. Suffocating in the captivity of the royal way of life, the heroine with every minute of the film is getting closer and closer to an inevitable nervous breakdown.

One of the climaxes is the one in which Diana leaves the palace, and the viewer sees that she put her pale yellow costume on a scarecrow. It is also a symbol of how greedy society is objectified Princess of Wales, and a sign that Diana finally got rid of the things that constrained her and feels free.

Of course, the color of the costume itself in this context hardly means anything (other than a reference to one of Diana's actual outfits). But it fits very well with the theory that yellow gives the picture a sense of anxiety and anxiety.

3. Creating a non-standard environment

Often the setting can tell more about the character than the dialogue. For example, the house of Norman Bates, the main psychopath in the history of cinema, is filled with paintings, plants, draperies, lace and other decorative items. But at the same time, this space with high ceilings and swirling staircases puts a lot of pressure on both the viewer and the hero himself, fixated on the image of the mother.

Joe Wright in The Woman in the Window (2021) creates a paranoid, claustrophobic atmosphere on screen that is so reminiscent of Psycho. The gloomy insides of Anna's huge house immediately evoke associations with the Bates mansion. On a subconscious level, an experienced viewer immediately understands that the owner of this building is also not quite in himself and is hiding something.

The main character, Anna Fox, cannot leave the house due to agoraphobia (fear of open spaces) and often experiences irrational panic attacks. And the inner state of the woman is perfectly emphasized due to the gigantic size of the room, filmed at unnatural, broken angles.

For The Shining (1980), Stanley Kubrick created many disturbing and haunting images. But almost more than the creepy twins, the rivers of blood pouring out of the elevator and the half-decomposed corpse in the bathroom scare the very space of the Overlook Hotel.

Complex and ornate patterns in the interior design hint that something bad is going on in the soul of the character, as if the hotel is trying to confuse him. Mirrors help create the same effect. As madness takes over Jack's mind, the Overlook's decor becomes more and more like a maze. And the desertedness of the hotel emphasizes the isolation of the hero from the family and the whole world.

The confusion of Jack's mind is also betrayed by the strange architecture of the hotel. Kubrick deliberately conceived a surreal layout: first these spatial anomalies discoveredDuke Nukem finally figures out what's wrong in The Shining's Overlook Hotel / Engadget the creators of Duke Nukem when they tried to make a special level based on the movie. After all, in what other place, if not in the nooks and crannies where the doors lead to nowhere, can the hero face his hidden subconscious fears?

"Black Swan" by Darren Aronofsky talks about ballerina Nina, who is trying to get the desired role and, due to the desire for perfection, is gradually losing touch with reality. And we understand a lot about the heroine by seeing where she lives.

Nina's bedroom is reminiscent of a nursery, with so many pinks and plush toys. The heroine at the beginning of the film really still feels like a little child. She is dependent on a mother who can safely undress her adult daughter to examine her injury. But when sensuality awakens inside Nina, the girl begins to resist control.

4. Creepy Diary Showcase

Let's finish with a reception that has already become a movie stamp. The notes made by the hero's hand can tell a lot about what is going on in his head. After all, it is personal a diary often becomes an outlet for a person in difficult situations.

Thriller David Fincher's "Seven" (1995) opens with credits, where fragments of John Doe's diary serve as a background. Thanks to this, the villain is present in the story from the first minutes, although there is still almost an hour and a half left before his appearance on the screen.

The diaries of the hero Kevin Spacey will later appear in the film itself, however, for a couple of moments. However, their creation took a significant part of the budget: designer Clive Pearcy and calligrapher John Sable hand-made several notebooks filled with words and images. What is there just not there: intricate text, erotic photos, autopsy footage.

Kubrick approached the creation of props for The Shining with no less scrupulousness. The director hired a typist who spent several months printing sheets covered with the words All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy (“One job, no idleness, poor Jack knows no fun”). And when the writer's wife finds the manuscript, the film's turning point happens: the husband's madness cannot be denied.

By the way, for foreign versions of the film, Kubrick picked up other versions of the phrase. The German was Was Du heute kannst besorgen, das verschiebe nicht auf Morgen ("Don't put off until tomorrow what can be done today"), and the French - Un tiens vaut mieux que deux tu l'auras ("Better a bird in the hand than two in bushes").

A very similar plot twist with the exposure of the anti-hero occurs in American Psycho (2000). Patrick Bateman's assistant finds the boss' diary closer to the end and realizes that behind the image of a successful yuppie businessman, a clinical doctor was hiding all this time. psychopath, a sadist and a murderer.

Todd Phillips hid in the "Joker" a lot of little things that affect our understanding of the picture. Some of them are built into the movie quite unobtrusively and can escape the attention of even the most attentive viewers. Among these Easter eggs is Arthur's notebook, where he writes down his thoughts, observations and ideas for future jokes. So, at the beginning of the film, he only takes notes with his right hand.

But closer to the middle of the picture, when the true "I" of the hero - the Joker - begins to wake up, the character turns into a left-hander. Arthur holds a pistol with his left hand and writes to her: "I hope that my death will make more sense than my life."

Are you interested in the topic of mental disorders on the screen? What are some of the brightest examples of mental illness in movies that you would add to those listed above? And what films do you think convey the essence of mental illness most authentically?