A one hundred peso question is raised…What exactly is psychoanalytic film theory?
Psychoanalytic film theory is an approach that focuses on unmasking the ways in which the phenomenon of cinema in general, and the elements of specific films in particular, are both shaped by the unconscious. Whose unconscious? This is where things get a little tricky. The unconscious studied by psychoanalytic film theory has been attributed to four different agencies: the filmmaker, the characters of a film, the film's audience, and the discourse of a given film. Psychoanalysis applied in literature, sociology, anthropology, ethnology, religion and mythology incited the interest of a public that had no inclination towards the clinical realm. Despite its relatively late development, it has become one of the most widely practiced theoretical approaches to cinema studies today. This is largely owing to the fact that psychoanalysis and film technology were born in the same era, and essentially grew up together. Thus, as cinema quickly came to focus on ways of rendering subjective experiences--the innermost psychological depths of the characters it portrayed--it naturally drew upon the newest conception of subjectivity offered in the field of psychology, namely the psychoanalytic conception of it. A great many films from the first half of the 20th Century accordingly drew upon such psychoanalytic concepts.
Today, one of the known examples of such movie which makes use of this psychoanalytic theory is the movie, “A Beautiful Mind,” an unbelievable journey into one man's reality directed by Ron Howard. Nominated for eight Academy Awards, and winner of four Oscars including Best Picture, A Beautiful Mind is one of the premier dramas of the decade. The brainchild of popular director Ron Howard (Opie from The Andy Griffith Show), A Beautiful Mind debuted to widespread critical acclaim due to the depth of its screenplay, the brilliant performances of Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly, and the in-depth portrayal of a victim of mental illness. Based on the true story of John Nash, a schizophrenic mathematical genius who overcame his illness and went on to win the prestigious Nobel Prize for his "Game Theory," A Beautiful Mind is one of the best films of the decade. The following lines extracted from the movie ’A Beautiful Mind’ speak that the concepts of psychoanalysis have been applied to his film ( Lipovetsky, 2009).
“Imagine if you suddenly learned that the people, the places, the moments most important to you were not gone, not dead, but worse, had never been. What kind of hell would that be?” -Dr. Rosen,
A Beautiful Mind is a truly beautiful movie, and it should not be missed by anyone of proper age to appreciate its beauty. Here, the film viewer is seen as the subject of a ”gaze” that is largely “constructed” by the film itself where what is on screen becomes the object of that subject’s desire. This psychoanalytical movie is about a schizophrenic mathematician named “John Nash”, who spends all of his days trying to find a revolutionary discovery/formula that will change life. The irony, is that life doesn’t work out if we try to solve it like an equation. It is only when we let go and let life happen to us, that we will find our true happiness. The Beautiful Mind is an exaggerated tale of this law, and how terrible life can get if you try to solve its nonexistent formula.
John Nash (Russell Crowe), is an awkward man, not good in social situations, but an amazingly talented mathematician. A young mathematical genius, he enjoys the early success of a budding career in academia. Able to complete mathematical formulas that baffle many of the greatest minds of his time, a young Nash stands on the brink of profound discovery with a limitless future and seemingly inevitable fame at his doorstep. Meeting a beautiful girl at an evening party, Alicia (Jennifer Connelly) would later become Nash's wife. The two seem destined for a life of bliss. But Nash's problems were not confined to the mathematical arena. He is so good, in fact, that he spends most of his time trying to find a revolutionary discovery in mathematics. I like to think of it as a “Life formula”, or a discovery that will never happen. The twist of the movie, which happens about halfway through, is that Nash is suffering from a severe form of schizophrenia, and half of the situations/places that exist in his life, are only part of his “beautiful” mind. Suffering from schizophrenia, Nash develops an acute sense of paranoia, decoding encrypted non-existent Soviet spy messages from comic books and newspaper advertisements. The reality in which he lives does not exist, and it threatens to tear apart his marriage, his career, and the very life which he holds dear. Can Nash overcome his debilitating disease and pursue the course of excellence to which he once seemed destined?
The cast and crew of A Beautiful Mind allow us to see a whole new world through the eyes of suffering genius. A Beautiful Mind is an unbelievable journey into one man's reality. Russell Crowe's brilliant portrayal of the schizophrenic Nash and Jennifer Connelly's standout performance as the woman who loved him form an onscreen synergy that continually drives the screenplay of A Beautiful Mind. Exhibiting quality direction from Ron Howard, the film stands as an eternal testament to the beauty of the human mind and the durability of the human spirit to overcome obstacles and shine at its brightest. One imaginary character that he creates is his roommate, Charles. Nash gets along very well with Charles, which makes the audience suspicious from the start, seeing that John Nash doesn’t really get along well with anyone else. The other character that Nash creates is named Parcher, who is working to solve a conspiracy case of an atomic bomb threat towards the U.S. When the conspiracy situation goes wrong in Nash’s head, that is when he is in need of mental help. He is taken into a psychiatric hospital, and receives intense treatment. Upon returning home, the visions are suppressed, but so is every aspect of John Nash’s beautiful mind. He no longer can think right, feel right, or act right. He stops taking the medication, and loses another battle with his schizophrenia. Instead of going back to the hospital, he tries to battle the hallucinations on his own. This is the turning point of the movie, where Nash learns how to really live his life.
Nash learns that life is more than making a discovery, or solving an equation. There is love and emotion involved; A wife, taking care of your baby, and the everyday joys of life. Instead of focusing his time on himself, John decides to go back to teaching classes, and shares his amazing knowledge with his students. All this, while ignoring the characters that took over his mind. This is where an amazing inspirational quote is mentioned by John Nash, which I will mention here:
Josh Lipovetsky extracted these lines:
Are the hallucinations… gone?” “No, but I’ve gotten used to ignoring them, and as a result, they’ve kind of given up on me. I think that’s sorta what it’s like with dreams and nightmares. We’ve gotta keep feeding them for them to stay alive” -John Nash, A Beautiful Mind
The quote above is one of the most credible and inspirational quotes I have ever heard. Dreams will gradually disappear, if we do not focus on them, and take constant action towards them. Nightmares will continue, as long as we feed them our attention. John Nash wins a Nobel Peace Prize at the end of the movie, for his contributions to society. A Beautiful Mind is a movie about the importance of enjoying every day of life, and not getting caught up in ridiculous theories or fantasies for a future that may never be. If we don’t focus on the present moment, it may be the biggest regret in our life. Embrace life each day, don’t embrace a fantasy world.
A fascinating film which successfully blurs the lines between John Nash's imagination and the world of reality, A Beautiful Mind vividly illustrates one man's struggle against great odds. As Nash's paranoia and hallucinations collude to blot out the genius of a beautiful mind, the power of the human spirit rallies to great heights - achieving a Nobel Prize and even the immortalization of one's own life in film. Nash should be lauded for his triumph against a paralyzing disease, and Ron Howard should be praised for delivering a cinematic masterpiece that shows us the true beauty of one man's plight. For these reasons and more, A Beautiful Mind is definite must-see film - perhaps one of the fifty best films of all time.
Finally, A Beautiful Mind is a touching, emotionally charged film detailing the life of a brilliant academic who suffers from schizophrenia. This affliction slowly takes over his mind and we watch as his life crumbles apart around him. He abandons his students, alienates his colleagues and replaces his research with a fruitless and all-consuming obsession. Eventually he is taken into hospital where he is forced, with the help of electric-shock therapy and regular medication, to accept his condition and attempt to repair the shattered fragments of his life.
He succeeds. Of course he succeeds, this is Hollywood and Hollywood likes a happy ending. In this case the happy ending is that, as an old man and after years of struggle, the poor academic is awarded the Nobel Prize. One interesting point though; it's a true story and our hero is none other than John Forbes Nash Jr.
As a young man, John Nash was a mathematical genius. In 1947 he went to Princeton on a Carnegie Scholarship, and after three years had produced a 27-page dissertation for his doctorate in which he greatly expanded the field of Game Theory, transporting it from a position of relative obscurity into one of almost universal relevance.
In the 1920s the father of Game Theory, Hungarian mathematician John von Neumann, had shown that mathematical models could be used to explain the behaviour of players in simple games. His work was limited in scope however, and although interesting, it appeared to be of little practical use.
Nash's dissertation expanded on von Neumann's work, showing how Game Theory could explain complex as well as simple competitive behaviour. It wasn't a comprehensive solution to all game situations, but it did lay the foundations for the huge body of work on Game Theory which has been produced since (Lipovetsky,2005).
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