Information about Girl, Interrupted (film)

Girl, Interrupted
original film poster for Girl, Interrupted
Directed by	James Mangold
Produced by	Carol Bodie Winona Ryder
Written by	Susanna Kaysen (book) James Mangold Lisa Loomer Anna Hamilton Phelan (screenplay)
Starring	Winona Ryder Angelina Jolie Clea DuVall Whoopi Goldberg Brittany Murphy Jeffrey Tambor Vanessa Redgrave
Music by	Mychael Danna
Editing by	Kevin Tent
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	December 21, 1999 (limited)
Running time	127 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$24,000,000 (estimated)
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Girl, Interrupted is a 1999 drama film about a woman's 18-month stay at a mental institution, starring Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie. It was adapted from the original memoir Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen and directed by James Mangold. The screenplay was written by James Mangold, Lisa Loomer, and Anna Hamilton Phelan. The original music score was composed by Mychael Danna. The film is rated R by the MPAA, for strong language and content relating to drugs, sexuality and suicide.

Plot summary

Susanna Kaysen (Winona Ryder), eighteen years old in April of 1967, voluntarily checks herself into the fictitious Claymoore Hospital (based on McLean Hospital, the actual institution featured in the memoir), after an attempted suicide. Kaysen is diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, and her stay extends two years.

She befriends fellow patients Polly Clark (Elisabeth Moss), Lisa Rowe (Angelina Jolie), Georgina Tuskin (Clea DuVall), Daisy Randone (Brittany Murphy) and others, and forms a small troupe of troubled women in her ward. Susanna is enchanted in particular by the unruly Lisa, who encourages her to stop taking her medications and generally resist the influences of therapy.

Time passes, and a night comes when Polly awakes screaming "My face, my face!" The nurses remove her and place her into solitary confinement with the intention of calming her down, but she continues sobbing. Troubled, Susanna (with the help of Lisa's keys) steals a guitar and they sit outside Polly's room, singing. Eventually, staff members notice. When an orderly (Susanna's friend) walks by, she pulls him to the ground and kisses him.

The next morning, Susanna is called into the office, where she is analyzed once more. Lisa is moved to another ward, as is the orderly.

Lisa and Susanna break out of Claymoore with the intention of going to work in Disney World. They spend the night at the house of the recently released Daisy, who kills herself the next morning after Lisa antagonizes her. Lisa runs away, while Susanna calls the police and returns to the hospital.

Lisa eventually returns after overdosing on drugs and develops a vendetta against Susanna. She threatens to kill Susanna, but in the process Susanna launches a fiery verbal attack upon her, and Lisa undergoes a mental breakdown. Susanna is released the next day.

At the end of the film, Susanna states that by the 1970s, most of her friends were released.

The film was shot at various locations in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, especially Harrisburg State Hospital in settings meant to resemble those of the grounds of McLean. ^[1]

Cast

• Winona Ryder as Susanna Kaysen
• Angelina Jolie as Lisa Rowe
• Clea DuVall as Georgina Tuskin
• Elisabeth Moss as Polly Clark
• Whoopi Goldberg as Valerie Owens
• Brittany Murphy as Daisy Randone
• Jeffrey Tambor as Dr. Melvin Potts
• Vanessa Redgrave as Dr. Sonia Wick
• Jared Leto as Tobias 'Toby' Jacobs
• Travis Fine as Nurse John
• Kurtwood Smith as Dr. Crumble
• Angela Bettis as Janet Webber

Controversy

The author, Susanna Kaysen, was among the detractors of the film, angered by the "melodramatic drivel" Mangold used with the script by conjuring up many stories that never happened in the book (such as Lisa and Susanna running away together). ^[2]

Film supporters claimed that it represented the suppression that women and mental patients suffered during that era, and that all changes were made in order to make the story more viable onscreen.

Awards

• Academy Awards
• Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Angelina Jolie
• Golden Globe Award
• Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture - Angelina Jolie - "Lisa Rowe"
• Screen Actors Guild Award
• Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role - Angelina Jolie

Filming

Filming took place along Main Street in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, as well as in Harrisburg State Hospital in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Mechanicsburg was chosen for its old fashioned appearance and its old style drug store simply titled "Drugs," all of which gave the film its time-dated appearance.

Soundtrack

• Merrilee Rush performing "Angel Of The Morning"
• Petula Clark performing "Downtown"
• Skeeter Davis performing "The End Of The World"
• Aretha Franklin performing "The Right Time (Aretha Franklin)"
• Jefferson Airplane performing "Comin Back To Me"
• Them performing "It's All Over Now Baby Blue"
• Chambers Brothers performing "Time Has Come Today'
• The Band performing "The Weight"
• The Mamas & The Papas performing "Got A Feeling"
• Wilco performing "How To Fight Loneliness"
• Simon & Garfunkel performing "Bookends Theme"

See also

• Borderline personality disorder
• Personality disorder

Notes

External links

• Girl, Interrupted at All Movie Guide
• Girl, Interrupted at Rotten Tomatoes