A certain kind of film

[NormaRegula]

In reply to posts 8 and 9 above, the aim was to try and find movies where NOBODY - therefore this includes the psychopath themselves - ends up dead, either directly or indirectly,as a result of the the activities of said psychopath. Hope this is clearer.

Ooops! Well, you can scratch Malice and To Die For in my last post. All About Eve stays. Could have sworn I saw Malice posted by someone.

 

[Ninas]

Psychopathic Movies

Hello!

I've been thinking about this subject for a while...

And I've noticed that there are movies out there that give clues about Psychopathic behaviors and may be able to help people understand their characteristics better.

Please be advised that some of these movies are graphic and sexually explicit..

Here is a list of the movies that I've viewed so far... If anyone wants to add to it , please do so! ;D


1991- A kiss before dying (Sean Young)
1995- To dye for (Nicole Kidman)
1993- The good son ( Macaulay Culcan)
1998- A perfect murder ( Michael Douglass)
1992- Basic Instinct (Sharon Stone)
1987- Fatal Attraction (Glen Close)
1994- Disclosure (Demi Moore)
1987- Wallstreet (Michael Douglass)
2003- Monster (Charlize Theron)
1993- Falling down (Michael Douglass)
1931- "M" (Peter Lorre)
2000- American Psycho (Christian Bale)
1991- Sleeping with the enemy (Julia Roberts)
1996- Primal Fear (Edward Norton)
2002- Red Dragon (Ralf Fiennes)
1996- Fear (Reese Witherspoon)
1991- Silence of the lambs (Anthony Hopkins)
2007- No country for old men (Tommy Lee Jones)

Now, it's very easy to notice who has the psychopathic personality but what I noticed in these movies was the subtle traits that hint that there is something wrong
with these individuals.

Notice the words and how they are spoken, notice the emptiness behind them. If anyone would like to review certain phrases, please so do :D


I just wanted to add this link that I came across by Julian in " The Psychopath in Film" Section. It has some interesting movies as well.

http://www.cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=2515.0

 

[Beau]

Re: Psychopathic Movies

There is a thread semi-related to your post - http://www.cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=6495.0 - which also discusses psychopaths in movies.  As far as psychopaths in movies, geeze the list is long.  Nowadays unless you're making a comedy it seems their is a psychopath in it. 

Small nitpick - Tommy Lee Jones was not the psychopath in No Country for Old Men, and neither was Julia Roberts in Sleeping with the Enemy. 

(topics merged)

 

[PepperFritz]

Trying to find a Hollywood movie about the common or garden variety of psychopath in which nobody ends up dead seems quite a task....

Oh, have I got some films for you. In all of the following, the psychopathic character named does not kill anyone (at least not directly, with his/her own hands). And they are almost all tour de force performances by the actors playing the roles:


The Women (1939) -- Crystal Allen, played by Joan Crawford

The Heiress (1949) -- Morris Townsend, played by Montgomery Clift

Room at the Top (1959) -- Joe Lampton, played by Laurence Harvey

Lolita (1962) -- Clare Quilty, played by Peter Sellers

The Manchurian Candidate (1962) -- Mrs. Iselin, played by Angela Lansbury

Nothing But the Best (1964) -- Jimmy Brewster, played by Alan Bates; Charlie Prince, played by Denholm Elliott

Marathon Man (1976) -- Dr. Szell, played by Laurence Olivier

Heaven's Gate (1980) -- Frank Canton, played by Sam Waterson

Dangerous Liaisons (1988) -- Marquise de Merteuil, played by Glenn Close

Misery (1990) -- Annie Wilkes, played by Kathy Bates

Clarissa (1991) -- Robert Lovelace, played by Sean Bean

The Player (1992) -- Griffin Mill, played by Tim Robbins

Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) -- Mr. Blake, played by Alec Baldwin

Schindlers List (1993) -- Amon Goeth, played by Ralph Fiennes

Swimming With Sharks (1994) -- Buddy Ackerman, played by Kevin Spacey

Shawshank Redemption (1994) -- Warden Norton, played by Bob Gunton

Portrait of a Lady (1996) -- Gilbert Osmond, played by John Malkovich; Madame Serena Merle, played by Barbara Hershey

The Wings of the Dove (1997) -- Kate Croy, played by Helena Bonham Carter

Les Miserables (1998) -- Monsieur Javert (played by Geoffrey Rush)

Richard III (1995) -- Richard III, played by Ian McKellen

Forsyte Saga (2002) -- Soames Forsyte, played by Damien Lewis

The Libertine (2004) -- Earl of Rochester, played by Johnny Depp

Deadwood (2004-2006) -- George Hearst, played by Gerald McRaney

(in Deadwood, Garrett Dillahunt puts in a brilliant performance as Hearst's psychopathic right-hand man, Francis Woolcot. But he *does* kill people, i'm afraid....)

 

[treesparrow]

For anyone interested there are dozens of films about psychopaths listed here at

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Transwiki:Fictional_portrayals_of_psychopaths_in_films

Some of the categories included like comedic, robotic and alien psychopaths detracts from the seriousness of the topic ( deliberate?).
Anyway, loads of titles to explore under the more realistic classifications, eg, men of affairs.

In passing, could the following be seen as a slightly obscure sign of the times?

The Best Actor Oscar awards for the last 3 years have been for portrayals of psychopathic characters. In 2008 the award went to Javier Bardem for No Country for Old Men, in 2007 to Daniel-Day Lewis for There will be Blood and in 2006 to Forest Tucker for The Last King of Scoland.

 

[Adaryn]

- In the Company of Men by Neil LaBute - the character "Chad" played by Aaron Eckhart (there was a thread about it but it must have disappeared during the forum's big shift).

- Lions for Lambs, by R.Redford - the senator played by T.Cruise - he kills, but like psycho politicians: "only" by proxy

- La Révolution Française by Robert Enrico. OK, there is A LOT of killing, but I didn't want to open a new thread just for this movie.

I couldn't find a version with English subtitles :( But for those who understand French, see it! . I think it's a great illustration of Political Ponerology, as we see how a noble ideal (though I know there are darker motives behind the French revolution (as is explained by Reed in the Controversy of Zion)) is perverted and twisted by characteropaths and psychopaths of various kinds. There are excellent portrayals of some of them : Robespierre (and his cult of the 'supreme being'), Marat, Saint-Just... On the opposite, you have the world of normal people, like Desmoulins and Danton, with flaws and ugliness (no doubt), but with a conscience and with freedom and equality as a goal (at least, that's how Danton is portrayed in the movie, which apparently is historically faithful). Louis XVI is pictured as a normal, really average man completely overwhelmed by the situation.
There are really great moments of twisted thinking/ideology, like when Robespierre, in a psychotic ranting, is saying that his supreme ideal is virtue, and in order to accomplish virtue, the revolution needs Terror (without Terror, virtue is powerless). Another great example of ponerology is when he says that despite all his efforts, he still doesn't understand the people - for him, people are flawed and unworthy, and he's ready to kill his own people in order to accomplish the revolution (whose aim is to bring virtue, acc. to him). Enrico sure didn't read Ponerology, but we get such a good insight in the minds of pathological deviants.

 

[Ninas]

There is a thread semi-related to your post - http://www.cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=6495.0 - which also discusses psychopaths in movies. As far as psychopaths in movies, geeze the list is long. Nowadays unless you're making a comedy it seems their is a psychopath in it.

Small nitpick - Tommy Lee Jones was not the psychopath in No Country for Old Men, and neither was Julia Roberts in Sleeping with the Enemy.

(topics merged)

I put the famous actors that would be recognized so it would be easier to find them in a movie shop. ;)

When they view the movie; it's easy to guess who the psychopath is ???.....

Oh, and another one I thought might be interesting is:

2001 - Training Day (Denzel Washington)

 

[Ninas]

You Know,

I always thought that Angelina Jolie was kind of like a "tortured soul" because during the end of the movie when she's strapped to the bed,
she said to Winona Ryder something along the lines of "I'm not dead" , I understood it to mean that she had deeper feelings.... ????? :)

In reply to posts 8 and 9 above, the aim was to try and find movies were NOBODY - therefore this includes the psychopath themselves - ends up dead, either directly or indirectly,as a result of the the activities of said psychopath. Hope this is clearer.

Thanks. That is helpful.

Then, Angelina Jolie as Lisa in "Girl, Interrupted" comes to mind. Though, she was considered to be "sociopath" but uncertain. More on this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girl,_Interrupted

Cruella De Vil in "101 Dalmatians" (1996 non cartoon).

Lex Luthor in "Superman" movies (don't believe he killed anyone, just manpuliate people like crazy).

 

[Renaissance]

Nowadays unless you're making a comedy it seems their is a psychopath in it.

Seems comedy in Hollywood is going into overdrive as well. There's a new 'comedy' coming out spoofing Micheal Moore in 'An American Carol'. Bill O'Reilly even makes an appearance.

_http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSpu8i1ZEFw&feature=related