Girl Interrupted

Girl Interrupted released in 1999 is based on the book by Susanna Kaysen published in 1993. Girl Interrupted is the real-life memoir of of Kaysen's time spent in a mental hospital, while being treated for her borderline personality disorder. From what I have read, though this is based on the real-life Susanna Kaysen, there are a lot of fictional scenes added in by the filmmakers that were not in the original book, for example when Susanna and Lisa escape and runaway. This film introduced me to the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder, which I was later diagnosed with by a doctor, after being misdiagnosed with various other mental illnesses for years. When I first watched this film, I really identified with Winona Ryder as Susanna Kaysen, we shared a lot of similar characteristics, and her self exploration was similar to the one that I had in my time in and out of mental hospitals through out my life. I feel like Winona Ryder played this role perfectly, she was a very identifiable character, and her personality fit that of someone with borderline really well. The movie actually does a great job at portraying the symptoms and behaviors of BPD, and honestly I wish I had read the book or seen this film much earlier in my life because I think it would have really helped me a lot. Winona Ryder was joined by an amazing supporting cast with Angelina Jolie as the sociopath Lisa, who became Susanna's best friend in the hospital. Whoopi Goldburg as the head nurse at the mental institute who shows Susanna tough love, but love nonetheless. Brittany Murphy as Daisy the bulemic, sexually abused, OCD, who struggles with self-harm. There really is not a bad actor in this movie, they all play their roles so perfectly. I also thought it was kinda cool that Misha Collins from Supernatural plays a small role in the film of the character Tony, who tries to hook up with Susanna at a party. Each character plays their role and their mental illness diagnosis absolutely perfectly, and honestly in my time in and out of psych wards I have met these characters, and like Susanna in this movie they became my friends, and I saw them as more than their diagnosis, but as wonderful beautiful people. This movie has always really meant a lot to me, and has always helped me to better understand myself, and in some ways actually helped me to cope with my own mental illness. Winona Ryder after reading the book instantly knew that she wanted to make a movie of it, and set out to by the rights, it was her work that made this film possible, and she was right to push to get it made. How she didn't win any awards for this film is actually quite shocking, as it seems like all of the attention was put onto Angelina Jolie as the supporting actress, who was nominated for multiple awards for her portrayal of Lisa, this was also one of Whoopi's finest performances as well, and I don't see why her amazing talent wasn't more recognized. As far as critical response the critics have always been torn on this movie, with the film only receiving about a 50% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Again the critics views don't really mean that much, what matters is did the film make you feel anything, did it affect you, and did you enjoy it. From a technical standpoint the film looks really good, and does a great job at sticking with the appearance and feel that it took place in the 1960s touching on some of the important themes that happened during the time that the film took place, like the draft for the Vietnam war, and the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Would I recommend this film? Yes wholeheartedly I could not recommend it enough. Perfect cast a young actresses, who play their roles perfectly, a great compelling mostly true story. The movie looks good, the costumes are perfectly done. This film should be on every person's must watch list, so hunt it down and give it a watch.