# Best depiction of mental collapse in film **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 17, 2007, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384 "2007-06-17T20:39:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Smitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Smitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smitty)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/41 "2007-06-18T14:41:41Z")
Ed Wood as the titular [Glen or Glenda](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045826/). “Pull the string! Pull the String!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/42 "2007-06-18T15:03:58Z")
Klaus Kinski in _Aguirre the Wrath of God_. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/43 "2007-06-18T16:35:16Z")
How about Jeremy Irons in “Dead Ringers”? That movie creeped me out more than anything else I’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![Flea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d78d45/32.png) [@Flea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flea)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/44 "2007-06-18T16:39:04Z")
A classic, for me, is Vivien Leigh in _A Streetcar Named Desire_. I don’t know what’s so riveting-just the great acting, th fragility of it, or knowing that in real life she wasn’t too tightly bolted, either. ---
**Author:** ![DJ\_Motorbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90ced4/32.png) [@DJ\_Motorbike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DJ_Motorbike)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/45 "2007-06-18T16:45:14Z")
The first that came to my mind was Jack Nicholson in The Pledge. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/46 "2007-06-18T16:58:19Z")
Jack Nicholason and Louise Fletcher’s pied a deux in Cuckoo’s Nest. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/47 "2007-06-18T18:18:32Z")
Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle in _Taxi Driver._ Julia Haggerty as Rita in _The Wife_ Harry and Kate (characters) in _Angel Baby_ ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/48 "2007-06-18T18:29:52Z")
[QUOTE=fessie] Ellen Burstyn - **Requiem for a Dream** [/QUOTE] Winner. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/49 "2007-06-18T18:37:28Z")
**Helena Bonham Carter** as Ophelia in Mel Gibson’s _Hamlet_. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/50 "2007-06-18T18:51:33Z")
I have to second Vivien Leigh’s performance, and add Kate Winslet’s Ophelia in Kenneth Branagh’s version of _Hamlet_. That woman is _gifted_. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/51 "2007-06-18T18:57:51Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] Jack Nicholason and Louise Fletcher’s **pied a deux** in Cuckoo’s Nest. [/QUOTE] Foot for Two? 😕 😃 ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/52 "2007-06-18T20:55:21Z")
The headmistress in **Picnic at Hanging Rock**. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/53 "2007-06-18T21:21:49Z")
Are any of these examples of characters who are _completely_ normal, happy, and functioning at the beginning of the movie, and _totally_ off the deep end by the conclusion? ---
**Author:** ![WoodenTaco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/45deac/32.png) [@WoodenTaco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WoodenTaco)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/54 "2007-06-18T21:28:38Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] Are any of these examples of characters who are _completely_ normal, happy, and functioning at the beginning of the movie, and _totally_ off the deep end by the conclusion? [/QUOTE] Fight Club’s Edward Norton isn’t happy, but he absolutely defines normal at the beginning of the movie. He’s just an average, unsatisfied office worker. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/55 "2007-06-18T22:48:09Z")
Oh, Harrison Ford in _The Mosquito Coast_ ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/56 "2007-06-19T00:10:08Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] At the risk of a whoosh, are you actually referring to Vincent D’Onofrio’s character in _Full Metal Jacket_? [/QUOTE] Not a whoosh, you are entirely correct. I was mixing my anti-war movies. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@El\_Cid\_Viscoso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Cid_Viscoso)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/57 "2007-06-19T00:16:55Z")
Jim Carrey in _Me, Myself & Irene_. ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/58 "2007-06-19T02:14:41Z")
[QUOTE=Nocturna the Cat] Naomi Watts’ ‘Diane’ in Mulholland Drive. [/QUOTE] Beat me to it. Speaking of Jack Nicholson - there’s The Shining. And speaking of Kubrick there’s HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey Laurence Harvey’s meltdown in The Manchurian Candidate ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/59 "2007-06-19T02:28:11Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] Are any of these examples of characters who are _completely_ normal, happy, and functioning at the beginning of the movie, and _totally_ off the deep end by the conclusion? [/QUOTE] Wilford Brimley in Alien qualifies. He was OK until he figured out that the entire human race was about an eyelash away from extinction because of what they’d dug up. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/60 "2007-06-19T03:02:43Z")
Whatchoo talkin bout Willis? Wilford Brimley wasn’t in “Alien”. You already posted about him in “The Thing” once. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384.md?page=4)