Friday, December 31, 2010

Girl, interrupted

Here's my take on this old movie ' Girl, Interrupted', which stars Winona Ryder as Susanna, Brittany Murphy as Daisy, and Angelina Jolie as Lisa.

Diagnosed as suffering from depression and having a borderline personality disorder, Susanna is sent to a mental institution to recuperate. Along the way, she meets the beautiful but twisted Lisa, who possesses sociopathic tendencies. Wiona Ryder's performance was captivating, but it was really Jolie who stole the show.There was not one moment that I could take my eyes off her. She might have been young, but she was no rookie in the acting department. Yes, she was mesmerizing, but she was also temperamental,manipulative, unpredictable, calculative, viciously cruel, and above all, dangerous. She knew exactly which buttons to push, which made her even more terrifying as she increasingly became more and more unhinged.

The movie was pretty intense and I loved it, for its dark humour, its talented cast and compelling plot. It's a rare gem among the plethora of movies, as it has depth and substance, and is thought provoking and emotionally impactful. Although it's somewhat dark, dealing with heavy things like incest, obsessive compulsive disorders, anorexia, rape, mutilation and so on, it is definitely a must-watch.

A few quotes to end off:

"Crazy isn’t being broken, or swallowing a dark secret. It’s you or me, amplified."

"But I know what it’s like to want to die. How it hurts to smile. How you try to fit in but you can’t. You hurt yourself on the outside to try to kill the thing on the inside."

"Maybe everyone 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, than down here with you."

"Have you ever confused a dream with life? Or stolen something when you have the cash? Have you ever been blue? Or thought your train moving while sitting still? Maybe I was just crazy. Maybe it was the 60's. Or maybe I was just a girl... interrupted."