# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/61 "2007-06-19T03:20:22Z")
[QUOTE=fessie] Whatchoo talkin bout Willis? Wilford Brimley wasn’t in “Alien”. You already posted about him in “The Thing” once. [/QUOTE] **Evil Captor** has suffered a mental collapse, and he doesn’t even know what movies he’s talking about anymore. He thinks Wilford Brimley starred in every action movie since 1980. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/62 "2007-06-19T06:19:30Z")
> [@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? Gael Garcia Bernal’s Stephane isn’t happy at the beginning of _The Science of Sleep_–he’s dealing with his father’s death, talking to his dad in dreams, and chasing his artistic dreams in a country across the world with a language he feels shaky in. But he’s certainly “normal” and functioning. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/63 "2007-06-19T13:50:30Z")
Can I add Joaquin Phoenix in _Gladiator_ - even though he was pretty strange at the beginning. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/64 "2007-06-19T13:53:16Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] The headmistress in **Picnic at Hanging Rock**. [/QUOTE] She was stable and living in a world she controlled. That world got…disturbed and so did she. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/65 "2007-06-19T13:59:35Z")
The protagonist of _28 Days Later_ had a pretty interesting take on the whole “mental collapse” schtick; so did the protagonist of _Brazil_. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/66 "2007-06-19T14:00:33Z")
Not the best but worthy of note- Lillian Gish in _The Wind._ ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/67 "2007-06-19T14:16:59Z")
[QUOTE=Stuffy] Nope, it’s the blanket party that does him in. He’s never the brightest bulb in the tree, but he isn’t cracked either. [/QUOTE] There’s sort of a big hint he’s going downhill when he’s talking to his rifle afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/68 "2007-06-19T15:01:35Z")
Is anime fair game here? Because Mimarin in _Perfect Blue_ was my first thought. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/69 "2007-06-19T15:12:26Z")
Does being on the edge of a nervous breakdown count? My mother swears she hates Almodóvar and his movies (she’s, uh, slightly prejudiced) but got hooked on watching that one with me once - now whenever she starts her “I hate Almodóvar” speech all I need to shut her up is remind her of the only Almodóvar movie she’s actually watched. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/70 "2007-06-19T15:56:54Z")
[QUOTE=riker1384] **Evil Captor** has suffered a mental collapse, and he doesn’t even know what movies he’s talking about anymore. He thinks Wilford Brimley starred in every action movie since 1980. [/QUOTE] I can’t imagine making an action movie _without_ Wilford Brimley. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/71 "2007-06-19T16:19:08Z")
[QUOTE=Fiver] I can’t imagine making an action movie _without_ Wilford Brimley. [/QUOTE] Of course - it’s the right thing to do. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/72 "2007-06-19T16:30:43Z")
Bruce Dern at the end of **Coming Home**. Boy, did _his_ world and everythng he believed in collapse in around him. The cross-cutting between a physically damaged but mentally very healthy Jon Voigt and Dern in the final moments left me sobbing. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/73 "2007-06-19T17:31:16Z")
[QUOTE=Cartooniverse] The cross-cutting between a physically damaged but mentally very healthy Jon Voigt and Dern in the final moments left me sobbing. [/QUOTE] It wasn’t a permanent collapse, but William Forsythe losing hope during **The Waterdance** left me crying too. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/74 "2007-06-19T20:41:46Z")
Gwyneth Paltrow in [Sylvia](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0325055/). CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/75 "2007-06-19T21:09:26Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > My mother swears she hates Almodóvar and his movies (she’s, uh, slightly prejudiced) How so? Does he belong to some minority group she dislikes? > [@Nava](#): > > but got hooked on watching that one with me once Which movie? > [@gigi](#): > > It wasn’t a permanent collapse, but William Forsythe losing hope during The Waterdance left me crying too. On a similar note: Peter in the original _Dawn of the Dead_ when he [spoiler]gives up on life and holes up in his room with a gun to his head. That moment, when the strongest (mentally and physically) character in the movie–the one who inspired the other three with his “never-say-die” mentality, empowered Roger in his final days and overcame the animosity between himself and Stephen to unify the party in the name of survival–is overcome by the horror of fighting another zombie onslaught, is powerful. Apparently Romero wanted to have Peter and Fran both commit suicide, and both scenes were shot–Peter putting a hole through his brain and Fran putting her head in the way of the chopper blades, and then the chopper was going to run out of fuel and die a couple of minutes later to show that their escape would have been futile anyway. Someone convinced him to have them both survive, but you can still see the build-up to their suicides when Fran hesitates once she’s inside the helicopter.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Big\_Norse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/big_norse/32/9954_2.png) [@Big\_Norse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Big_Norse)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/76 "2007-06-19T22:19:54Z")
Jessica Walter started out (seemingly) sane in [Play Misty for Me](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067588/) (I never thought about it before, but this movie was its generation’s “Fatal Attraction”). ---
**Author:** ![JustinC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justinc/32/8083_2.png) [@JustinC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JustinC)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/77 "2007-06-19T22:43:13Z")
Very understated, possibly more true to life, and acting like the role was made for him: Omar Sharif in Dr Zhivago. I thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/78 "2007-06-19T23:50:57Z")
[QUOTE=Gatopescado] Nick Nolte in “Affliction”. This movie also features one of the best lines in cinematic history, delivered by a powerful James Coburn. If you’ve seen it, you know what I’m talkin’ about! 😉 [/QUOTE] Great flick! ---
**Author:** ![ASAKMOTSD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@ASAKMOTSD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASAKMOTSD)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/79 "2007-06-20T00:24:54Z")
Tom Cruise in [Taps](http://www.destinationhollywood.com/celebrities/tomcruise/images/tomcruise_taps_01.jpg) or perhaps on [Oprah](http://www.bestweekever.tv/bwe/images/2006/08/tom%20crazy.jpg) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384/80 "2007-06-20T03:43:20Z")
[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] Yeah, Ellen Burstyn in _Requiem For a Dream_ qualifies. She’s just a regular old lady at the start. By the end she’s . . . a babbling lunatic in an asylum. And it’s so gradual, too. It was a real shock to me to watch the movie a second time and see how normal and healthy she looked at the start. A completely different character by the end. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-depiction-of-mental-collapse-in-film/408384.md?page=5)