Ten Great Psychological Movies Part 1

So what makes a good psychological movie? The definition of a psychological movie is a film that directly addresses a psychological topic or mental disorder and/or utilizes psychological concepts or a psychological theme as part of the plot.

My ratings of the movies covered here are based on a five-cigar rating system. Sigmund Freud was quite the cigar aficionado, and receiving five cigars would have sounded great to him. For our purposes, five cigars is a great film, and one cigar is a bad psychological film. Each film can earn one cigar for each of the following criteria:

• Accurate depiction of a mental disorder
• Accurate portrayal of a person suffering from a mental disorder
• Accurate depiction of the structure, process, and function of mental health treatment including psychotherapy and medication
• Insight into the subjective experience of a person suffering from a mental disorder or other psychological dilemma
• Use of psychological principles and knowledge to anticipate, predict, and get inside the mind of the characters in the film is necessary on the part of the viewer

• One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was released in 1975 and based on Ken Kesey’s book of the same name. The film stars Jack Nicholson as Randle P. McMurphy, a man who is involuntary committed to a mental hospital.

The thing that makes this movie a real contender for the Golden Cigar is the question of whether Nicholson’s character is really mentally ill. The film seems to be commenting on the mental health system during the time period within which the movie is set and how the system was used as a means of social control. Is Nicholson’s character mentally ill, or is he just a pain in the neck who has a problem with authority? There’s no doubt that Jack stands out and bucks the system every chance he gets, but does that make him sick? Maybe he just has a real zest for life.

For the acting, social commentary, and existential dilemma, I give this film five cigars! Definitely check this one out!

• A Clockwork Orange

A Clockwork Orange, based on the book by Anthony Burgess, was made in 1971 and stars Malcolm McDowell as Alex DeLarge, a young troublemaker and delinquent. McDowell and his gang of three friends engage in various crimes and shenanigans, such as fighting, vandalism, skipping school, and the like. One night, they steal a car and go for a joy ride. They commit a horrific home invasion, raping a woman and brutally beating her husband. McDowell gets caught.

This is where the psychologically interesting part begins. McDowell is put through a rigorous behavior modification program that utilizes a technique called aversion training. After learning takes place, every time McDowell’s character is exposed to violence, he becomes violently ill. Therefore, he is compelled to avoid engaging in violence in order to avoid getting sick.

The film seems to pose a number of questions: Do we really want to resort to such tactics in reforming our criminals? Are we doing more harm than good? Is the level of violence in a society a function of a collective aversion to it or more a matter of the strong preying on the weak?

For the macabre nature of the film and its use of behaviorism, not to mention the social commentary on violence in society, I give this film five cigars!

• 12 Monkeys

12 Monkeys, directed by Terry Gilliam and starring Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, and Brad Pitt, takes place in a post-apocalyptic world in which Bruce is sent back in time to stop whomever spread a virus that destroyed the world.

The psychological crux of 12 Monkeys is the question, “What is real?” How do we know if someone is really delusional or not? How can we prove that God really does speak to some people? Willis and Stowe develop what looks like a mental disorder known as folie a deux, a shared fantasy or delusion by two or more people.

The acting in 12 Monkeys is great. Brad Pitt’s portrayal of a schizophrenic is outstanding. The questioning of reality is a complicated topic, but 12 Monkeys pulls it off. Five cigars!

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)
Ten Great Psychological Movies Part 1

• Pleading Insanity
• Assessing the Problem and Testing Your Psyche
• Taking Down the History
• Going Beyond Stress: The Psychology of Health
• Pleading Insanity
• Taxonomizing Symptoms and Disorders
• Getting sick of being worried
• Figuring Out the Criminals with Forensic Psychology
• Deciding Who's Normal
• Checking Under the Hood