Sunday, July 22, 2007
Small World
Just finished watching Campion's biopic of the reclusive, shy, and nervous New Zealand ginger author, Janet Frame: An Angel at My Table. I had seen bits of this film in 1989 and had been fascinated by Frame's horrifying stay at a mental ward where JUST as they were about to give her a lobotomy won a literary award and was freed. I couldn't deal with this movie and avoided it for years because I knew it would be painful to watch. At UMass I wrote my honor's thesis on a closed down mental institution--but fictionalized it, and had Frame in mind (also Robert Pirsig). Then, a few years later I wrote my M.A. with a chapter on John Money, the doctor who coined "gender identity." Just wikipediaed Frame and found out Money and Frame were friends.
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2 comments:
I watched this a few years ago. And, yeah, SUCH an interesting film. Subsequently I've always had in the back of my mind 1) I hope my hair never, ever, looks like hers, and 2) if I ever mess my teeth up, I'll just have them all replaced! Now that I've said all that I've realized I sound hopelessly shallow. Really, guys, its my dissertation exhaustion speaking.
Those are the most memorable things, though. Frames body is completely at stake--she sticks out, she had compulsive addictions offset by her shyness, etc. Brilliant film--probably the best writer biopic I've seen.
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