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Girl, Interrupted
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Girl, Interrupted (1999) More at IMDbPro »

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Girl, Interrupted (1999) -- Based on writer Susanna Kaysen's account of her 18-month stay at a mental hospital in the 1960s.
Girl, Interrupted (1999) -- Based on writer Susanna Kaysen's account of her 18-month stay at a mental hospital in the 1960s.
Girl, Interrupted (1999) -- Based on writer Susanna Kaysen's account of her 18-month stay at a mental hospital in the 1960s.

Overview

User Rating:
7.1/10   40,037 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 2% in popularity this week. See rank & trends on IMDbPro.
Director:
James Mangold
Writers (WGA):
Susanna Kaysen (book)
James Mangold (screenplay) ...
more
Contact:
View company contact information for Girl, Interrupted on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
14 January 2000 (USA) more
Genre:
Biography | Drama more
Tagline:
Based on a true story more
Plot:
Based on writer Susanna Kaysen's account of her 18-month stay at a mental hospital in the 1960s. full summary | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
Won Oscar. Another 4 wins & 8 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(60 articles)
Voight: 'Winslet Deserved To Win'
 (From WENN. 23 February 2009, 4:06 AM, PST)

Jolie Sticks To Her Seat At The Oscars
 (From WENN. 22 February 2009, 5:45 PM, PST)

User Comments:
Brief critique-- 9/10 Excellent drama and lyric insight more

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Additional Details

Also Known As:
Durchgeknallt (Germany)
Durchgeknallt - Girl, interrupted (Germany) (TV title)
more
MPAA:
Rated R for strong language and content relating to drugs, sexuality and suicide.
Runtime:
127 min
Country:
Germany | USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Dolby Digital | SDDS
Filming Locations:
Hanover, Pennsylvania, USA more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Claire Danes auditioned for the role of Lisa. more
Goofs:
Anachronisms: At the 1968 party after Susanna & Lisa are picked up in the microbus, The Doors' "Roadhouse Blues", released in 1970, is playing. more
Quotes:
Susanna: How am I supposed to recover when I don't even understand my disease? more
Soundtrack:
Jeannie more

FAQ

Is the entire film based on real events and facts?
Were all of the girls in the film friends and did they remain friendly?
more
83 out of 94 people found the following comment useful:-
Brief critique-- 9/10 Excellent drama and lyric insight, 27 January 2000
9/10
Author: moviebuffgirl from Earth

I came to the film with low expectations. I was simply stunned by how good it was.

Angelina Jolie is an absolutely PHENOMENAL actress. Her performance alone is worth watching the movie for. But unlike show-stoppers like Marissa Tomei in "My Cousin Vinnie," merely shines the brightest light in a luminescent cast.

The cinematography was innovative, but not distractingly so-- "Girl Interupted" shines primarily for its dramatic power, not as a mind-blowing work of art. It will not explode your vision of the mundane world in the same way that "American Beauty" might, but it will certainly probe you to question your way of seeing the world-- at least psychologically.

Winona Ryder challenged my preconception of her, and proved herself as more than a pretty-girl. Her performance was convincing as Suzanna, a confused high-school graduate who is eloquent and insightful on paper yet unable to a rticulate her own desperate melancholy.

The movie takes place primarily in the women's ward of a mental institution and follows the dynamic friendship between Lisa (Jolie's character) and Suzanna. Lisa is a kinetic, dynamic personality who cuts right to the "truth" of things. Her "truth" knows no boundaries and she is a controlling person prone to violence. Her piercing insights about people and social recklessness led to her to be institutionalized as a sociopath.

This is not a depressing film. Rather, it is suprisingly life-affirming. Not cloying, not sacherine, but not inpenetrably dark, either. Anyone seeking an angst-ridden portrayal of abuses in mental institutions should check out Jack Nicholson's "One Flew Over the Cuckoos nest."

This film has little of the violent anger of that old classic. Yet it does echo some of the ebulience, the defiance of authority and embracing of freedom at sometimes incalculable cost.

Performances by Whoppie Goldberg (in a serious and nuanced role) and Vanessa Redgrave were excellent, as expected.

With the exception of a few holywood gimmicks, predictable cuts and music, this is a nearly flawless film. Dead-on dramatically, and excellently scripted and based on an eloquent true-story by Suzana Keisen, this movie offers a glimpse of one intensely personal experience of truth. Without the quotation marks, dark cynicism, or pretensions that revelation so frequently entails.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Girl, Interrupted (1999)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
What exactly was wrong with Lisa? CarJax
Screenworn costume from this film on eBay! Loud_and_Clea
One thing I've never understood... anthrophobia
The institution + Daisy's Father... bellslena
Therapy for a Sociopath... ATBliss
Susanna Has Schizophrenia, not BPD RHCProckerchik
more

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