Girl, Interrupted (1999)

Based on writer Susanna Kaysen's account of her 18-month stay at a mental hospital in the late 1960s.

Director:

James Mangold

Writers:

Susanna Kaysen (book), James Mangold (screenplay)

Stars:

Winona Ryder, Angelina Jolie, Clea DuVall

Won 1 Oscar. Another 7 wins & 11 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Winona Ryder	...	Susanna
Angelina Jolie	...	Lisa
Clea DuVall	...	Georgina (as Clea Duvall)
Brittany Murphy	...	Daisy
Elisabeth Moss	...	Polly
Jared Leto	...	Tobias Jacobs
Jeffrey Tambor	...	Dr. Potts
Vanessa Redgrave	...	Dr. Wick
Whoopi Goldberg	...	Valerie
Angela Bettis	...	Janet
Jillian Armenante	...	Cynthia
Drucie McDaniel	...	M-G
Alison Claire	...	Gretta
Christina Myers	...	Margie
Joanna Kerns	...	Annette

Storyline

In 1967, Susanna Kaysen had a headache and chased a bottle of aspirin with a bottle of vodka. This landed her in the mental institution, Claymoore. Here she is diagnosed, by Dr. Melvin Potts, with borderline personality disorder. When she arrives at Claymoore, she is greeted by Nurse Valerie Owens and shown round the woman's ward. Here she meets Georgina Tuskin, a pathological liar who is fixated with The Wizard of Oz; Polly Clark, a childlike schizophrenic; Janet Webber, a sardonic anorexic patient; Daisy Randone, a girl who won't let anyone in her room, and only eats her father's chicken; and Lisa Rowe, a sociopath who controls the other patients, and makes lives hard for the nurses at Claymoore. Through the movie, Lisa gains and loses control over Susanna and we see how bad she really can be. The movie's ending shows Susanna being released from Claymoore after an 18-month stay. How does Susanna take back her control? This movie battles subjects such as mental heath, abuse, ...

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Plot Keywords:

mental hospital | based on true story | mental institution | female protagonist | borderline personality disorder | 

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Taglines:

Based on a true story

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong language and content relating to drugs, sexuality and suicide

Did You Know?

Trivia

Due to its prevalence of strong female roles, many young actresses of the era sought to be a part of this movie. Reese Witherspoon, Rose McGowan, Kate Hudson, Christina Ricci, Katie Holmes, Gretchen Mol, Alicia Witt and Alanis Morissette all auditioned for unspecified roles, while Clea DuVall replaced Sarah Polley after she fell out of negotiations, and Brittany Murphy replaced Leelee Sobieski, who quit the project due to scheduling conflicts.

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Goofs

When Susanna is first being driven by taxi to the asylum, we see an all blue mailbox through the window. In 1968, mailboxes were red on top, blue on bottom. They weren't painted all blue until the 1970s.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Susanna: [narrating] 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 60s. Or maybe I was just a girl... interrupted.

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Alternate Versions

Director James Mangold states in the DVD commentary that the original cut was three hours long. This version has not been shown publicly nor released on any media; however, the DVD contains 15 minutes of the scenes deleted from the final cut.

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Connections

Featured in The 72nd Annual Academy Awards (2000)

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Soundtracks

Downtown
Written by Tony Hatch
Performed by Petula Clark
Courtesy of BMG France
Also sung by Winona Ryder (uncredited) and Angelina Jolie (uncredited)

User Reviews

Forgot how good this was.

I found this film browsing through Netflix's deplorable movie catalogue, and couldn't figure out when did I watched it some time ago. Utterly enjoyable all the way through, I was delighted by Angelina Jolie's performance, I hadn't even remembered she won an Oscar for it, it wasn't until near the end that it hit me. Her performance is truly astounding, she composes her character with traits that perfectly define a person with her mental state. Her mannerisms, her volatile and somewhat unpredictable self makes her a bit frightening, which makes the viewer watch her performance uncomfortable and in awe at the same time.

Winona Ryder is great as well, she portrays her different condition in a different manner as expected, perhaps more discreetly, but still effective nonetheless. Overall, most acting performances are on point, such as Clea DuVall, the late Brittany Murphy, Whoopi Goldberg and Elisabeth Moss, they all deserved to be credited.

If you want well-done drama with splendid performances, look no further, and enjoy yourself. Especially Angelina Jolie's phenomenal Oscar-winning performance.

Details

Country:

Germany USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 January 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Girl, Interrupted

Filming Locations:

2100 Chestnut Street, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$95,399, 26 December 1999

Gross USA:

$28,912,646

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$48,350,205

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Red Wagon Entertainment, 3 Arts Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

127 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS (8 channels)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1