Mental health as always relevant as it has been to human’s existence hasn’t really been given the relevance. We see scientific numbers year by year, that mental illness is a growing disease all over the world. There have been some great movements in societies to open up conversations and really help people.
Cinema gives the power to humans to survive their biggest difficulties. The biggest generator for empathy is art. As apt representations go, here are some films that made me understand the nonsensical voices of the world that you can watch too –
1) A Death in the Gunj (Amazon Prime) – Konkana Sen Sharma’s thrilling directorial debut about self involved relatives and a beautiful boy, Shutu. This film understood loneliness and the external pressures of life well. The chaos and sadness leaves one haunting with their jaw dropped.
2) Black Swan (Disney+Hotstar) – directed by Darren Aronofsky, told the story of Nina, a ballerina fighting with Nina. The internal war that one goes through and the limits once can push for perfection is what this film understands well. Also, what happens when you’ve pushed all those limits?
3)The Skeleton Twins – Directed by Craig Johnson and starring Bill Hader as Milo and Kristen Wiig as Maggie, this film will give you some much needed laughs as this brother sister duo try their way at living life. The itching feeling of not being able to share something with someone or understand something completely is what Milo and Maggie tells us and through that sharing how one grows stronger.
4) Honey Boy (Amazon prime) – Alma Har’el directed,starring Shia LaBeouf, Lucas Hedges and Noah Jupe tells the story of Otis and his father over a span of decade. This film honestly portrays trauma, letting go and understanding the extent of deep sadness and pain. Luckily, Honey boy will be available on 8th July.
5) 15 Park Avenue – directed by Aparna Sen and starring Konkana Sen Sharma (Meethi) and Rahul Bose (Joydeep), tells the story of Meethi who battles schizophrenia and in the quest of an imaginary family. It accurately and sensitively portrays normalcy and what society deems to be abnormal.
6) Short Term 12 – beautifully written and carefully weaved, tells the story of Grace who is a counselor at a care unit for teenagers but slowly starts to crumble into her own past. It stars Brie Larson, Lakeith Stanfield, Kaitlyn Dever, Rami Malek and more.
7) Kaasav – directed by Sumitra Bhave and Sunil Sukhthankar, tells the story of a woman who tries to help a depressed young man as she copes with issues in her own life. It tells the importance of connecting with people outside your family and uses beautiful metaphors to do so.
8) Hereditary – Ari Aster’s mind boggling directorial debut tells the horrors of trauma, grief and suppressing those emotions but in the end how that itself can choke you. Toni Collette is underappreciated for her role as Annie. There are many layers to this film and although it may not seem it is talking about mental health directly, it shows its many faces. Tread lightly on this one; it is a visually impactful film.
9) Taste of Cherry (YouTube) – Directed by Abbas Kiarostami in 1997, this classic tells the story of a middle aged Iranian man (Mr. Badii) driving his truck in search of someone who will quietly bury him under a cherry tree. Abbas’ films have the charm of simplicity and capturing the deepest nuances of life.
10) Prozac Nation – based on the book by the same name, set in 1980’s, follows Christina into battling depression alongside her first year at Harvard. Combines a generational struggle with drugs, addiction and overbearing mothers, this film is unflinching and unapologetic in its telling.
We’re facing tough times as it is but reach out to people and find that way of hope any way you can. Here are some places you or anyone you know is in need of can visit –
https://indianhelpline.com/SUICIDE-HELPLINE/
https://themindclan.com/
http://aasra.info/
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