Film: Out of Mind, Out of Sight (2014)
Film: Excellent
Transfer: n/a Extras: n/a
Label: n/a
Region: n/a
Released: n/a
Genre: Documentary / Hot Docs 2014
Synopsis: Suffering from mental illness and prone to varying levels of aggressive behaviour, patients of Brockville’s forensic psychiatric hospital discuss their difficult lives in intimate detail.
Special Features: n/a
Review:
After examining the specific case of a violent act committed by a mentally ill individual in NCR: Not Crimminally Responsible (2013), director John Kastner broadens his scope in this related doc regarding the treatment of patients at Brockville’s Mental Health Centre, a forensic psychiatric hospital designed to rehabilitate patients and help them control violent behaviour.
Kastner eventually settles on a quartet of patients with broken lives, but the dominant figure is Michael Stewart, hesitant to return to the outside world after coming to terms with killing his mother ten years prior. The language and behaviour of the patients are very frank, but by having them discuss a variety of deeply personal subjects on camera, Kastner presents a humanistic view of troubled individuals, and a system designed to give them tools to re-establish some normalcy, and eventually return to society. A remarkable and often moving film, and a needed contrast to the frequently baffling encounters of late between the mentally ill and the police interventions with sometimes tragic conclusions.
© 2014 Mark R. Hasan
External References:
IMDB — Hot Docs 2014 Listing
Vendor Search Links:
Amazon.ca
Category: Blu-ray / DVD Film Review
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