robert-temple-1
This is a horror film masquerading as an emotional drama. Why bother? The story is so disturbing, so nasty, so tasteless, so pointless. It is an exercise in 'provocation' and exploitation. Do we really want to see the late and lamented Natasha Richardson brilliantly going to pieces? Do we really want to see Ian McKellen being brilliantly devious, creepy, and demented? Do we really want to see Marton Csokas being brilliantly passionate, creepy, and demented? Do we want to see any of these things? Do we want to see people reduced to emotional and psychological rubble? Children drowning? Suicide? Marriage wrecked? Despair? Hopelessness? Do we want to be provided with a ready-made reason why we should all go jump off a high building and decide that there is no point in living? If the answer is yes, then this film is for you. Anyone who thinks life is tough enough already should give it a miss.
kcarr97
I did not realize Natasha Richardson was the daughter of Vanessa Redgrave and what a lovely, talented actress she is. Sounds just like her mother. Beautiful people. And did anyone notice how the gentlemen in the film, Martin, Ian and Hugh, were marvelous at showing her off? She is, after all, the center of this Anna Karenina-like drama. I don't know why folks are referring to Stella as a "cold" person though. This was not my impression at all, but to each his own. It seemed to me that Stella appeared to be too passionate about her feelings toward the institution and the people around her to the point that she sent everyone around her spinning out of control. She seemed to feel that every person around her had no compassion at all and she was living in an uncaring world. I mean, does anyone like this woman in the movie except her son and Peter? Her own husband treats her with contempt and disgust, so why wouldn't his mother? Even Edgar, right from the start, has no respect, and is unable or refuses to control himself around her, while they are dancing; what was she supposed to do? Slap him in the face and call for the guards to remove him immediately? Probably. But, no, she was a lady and carried on with the dance. And, I guess that's the last time she was a lady because at that point on she basically decided "to heck with this lady business". Which was her downfall. And the whole point of the movie. She broke the patient-doctor's wife trust barrier that is mandatory for every patient's health by allowing herself to become deluded into thinking she could cure a killer (well, to her, he was just a handsome sculptor whose life had been ruined by the hospital) by being with him and, even worse, he should be free. I'm afraid, Peter, Edgar's psychiatrist, was right. She was delusional. So delusional, she was unable to save her beloved son from drowning because she was so lost in her thoughts about Edgar. The shame of it all is that no one in that community of pleasant and cheerful women surrounding her reached out to help (Peter should have asked one of the ladies for help)her. Yes, Peter tried to. And I believe his intentions were good, but he did it the only way he knew how, as an administrator whose entire daily life was surrounded by ill people. He would have no background to deal with a woman, wife and mother, from the "real world", in any other way, except to say "we may have to keep you here" (thinking of her protection). Obviously, Stella took this the wrong way, probably thinking she would be admitted as a patient. I don't think that's what Peter would have done though. As far as Peter being "a queen", it may have been true that Peter was fond of Edgar, but I didn't get the impression that he broke the patient-doctor relationship by having a tryst with him. And Edgar blew him off anyway when he said, "What would she want with an old queen like you?" Peter was amused himself. I mean, these guys knew each other, for 6 years. They were laughing about it. No, I think he was really trying to help Stella by marrying her. He could see she really mucked things up, had nowhere to go, no employment prospects, no son to live for, truly was delusional about Edgar who truly was a danger, yet he, the honorable man that he was, just might be able to come to the rescue and save her. This is why, underneath it all, I think his underlying motive was to help her (he had a need to help) with the possible benefit that maybe they could have a relationship that would warm through his silver years and be good for both of them after all. Yes, even if he was a "queen". And Edgar? He was just an attractive guy who had been and could be a monster, but people were so sparkled by his good looks, they forgot about that "oh so dazzling" monster inside. Anyone heard of a story like that before? I did notice that the movie was dedicated to the patients of an institution, which I thought was very touching and is a clue that the film might have been about caring for the people around you and how hard it is to do that sometimes. Well done.
Spaceygirl
A faithful adaptation of an utterly depressing book, "Asylum", while devastatingly depressing is completely compelling. The viewer is held spellbound, swept away by the story which culminates in a tragic end. The acting is uniformly brilliant, Marton Csokas chewing the scenery every time he is on the screen. Sir Ian MacKellan is equally compelling, scarily believable as a power-mad psychiatrist enjoying his games with his patients and acquaintances. One is left feeling dull and uneasy at the denounement, knowing that there was no other way for the film to end. My only problem were the minor plot-holes: Why would a woman who holds her son as the reason for her existence watch impassively as he drowns? Why would an insane asylum allow a rooftop to be easily accessible to mentally unstable people? Minor quibbles aside, this is a powerful story with brilliant acting and an excellent script.
Gordon-11
This film is about the wife of a psychiatrist who falls in love with one of the patients in the psychiatric institution.At the start, I thought that the scenes seem disjointed. The scenes were so short that it seems truncated and underdeveloped. However, as the film develops, the film no longer feels this way. Instead, this turns into an advantage because the scenes are only as long as they need to be, and hence the film is tight and intense, and things happen all the time. There is hardly room for the viewers to breathe!This is an intense film with a lot of emotions. We get to see love, hate, jealousy and regret. Both the director and the actors capture the emotions in the most vivid manner that makes me feel for the characters.The ending is rather unexpected, and the reaction of all the parties concerned in the film are also portrayed.
