Aidan Og Madden Reviews

Girl, Interrupted (1999)

A passionate and challenging portrayal of institutional insanity

[15 October 2000]

This is not a story of good guys and bad guys. A subtle, multi-layered portrait of mental disorder and reactions thereto. Intriguingly, it is eschews fashionable "social constructivist" approach to psychology: that psyches are merely "constructs" of their society/gender/class (take your pick). The heroine, Suzanna, begins by denying her suicidal tendency and signs herself into a psychiatric institute. She becomes acquainted with her inmates and her keepers. This drama, set in the 'Sixties, relays her relationship with the external institution from which she cannot escape and the personal strictures imposed upon herself to which she is bound. "Escape" and the conundrum of escaping oneself is a central remit of this character study. Picaresque in nature, the thematic substance is revealed in the subtle remarks and clamorous exchanges. Unlike "Idioterne", mental disorder is not portrayed as the sole rational reaction to society - that, in a world gone mad, "being mad" is the only authentic (truthful, even) response. This movie surpasses "One Flew . . ." in its depiction of mental illness. We cannot cheer the protagonist at the end, because this is not a cheer-leading exercise. Rather, this is a satisfying evocation of the Mental Health System and its stumbling attempts to prepare people for Normal Life.

Rat (2000)

A witty and surreal Irish comedy

[9/10 · 14 July 2000]

How many Irish films can succeed without resorting to "faith an' begorrah" cliches? RAT doesn't. Veteran writer Wesley Burrowes has written a wildly whimsical moral tale that laughs in the face of miserable, self-pitying Irish drama with his story of the tragedy that befalls a home which the man of the house turns into a rodent. Beautifully balancing the bizarre and the mundane, this is a film that the great Irish humourist Flann O'Brien could have made. The performances are great (including the rat, courtesy of Jim Henson's company) and the cast includes Pete Postletwaite (In The Name of the Father, Brassed Off, etc), Imelda Staunton (Shakespeare in Love, Sense and Sensibility, etc), Frank Kelly (best known as 'Father Jack'), Niall Toibin (in rattling good form as the priest) and comedian Ed Byrne (although his role is a minor one, and, oddly, he doesn't get any good lines). The soundtrack by Bob Geldof and Pete Briquette perfectly capture the mock-horror of the storyline. The details of the story? Go and see it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.