Demons of the Mind: Cinema and Psychiatry in the Long 1960s

In this special audio documentary episode of The Cinematologists Podcast, we draw upon the fascinating research in an AHRC funded project Demons of the Mind: Psychiatry and Cinema in the long 1960s. Exploring the complex interrelations between cinema and the psy-sciences during a unique period of material collaboration, we cover the dimensions of mutual influence between filmmakers and psychiatric professions in a number of contexts - the depiction of psychological themes in case history adaptations, relationships between doctors and patients, changing ideas around causes and treatments of conditions, the context of censorship, and the very social perception of mental illness. We also focuses on the rationale for collaborations between filmmakers and psy-professionals, their ideological and moral parameters, and the formal characteristics of films influenced by psychiatry in various ways. 

The episode, written, narrated and edit by Dario and featuring contributions from research investigators Dr Tim Snelson of the University of East Anglia and Dr William R. Macauley of the University of Manchester, weaves together the core arguments and findings from the project with indicative clips from a range of films that were the focus of enquiry.

After the main edit, Dario discusses with Neil the making of the podcast, thinking through both the technical elements of editing this type of podcast and the decision-making process when adapting such in-depth research to the audio form.

Dr. Tim Snelson is an associate professor in media history at the University of East Anglia (UK). His research addressing the relationship between media and social history has been published in journals including Media History, History of Human Sciences, Cultural Studies and The Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television. He has explored wartime cycles of psychological horror and crime films in a book titled Phantom Ladies: Hollywood Horror and the Home Front (Rutgers University Press, 2015).

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8282-2432

Dr. William R. Macauley is a lecturer at the University of Manchester and senior research associate at the Science Museum, London. He has an academic background and extensive research experience in psychology and the history of science, technology, and medicine. His work has been published in scholarly books and journals including History of the Human Sciences, Journal of British Cinema and Television, History of Technology, and the Journal of Sonic Studies.

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1748-9610

Book to accompany the research project:

Tim Snelson , William R. Macauley  and David A. Kirby, Demons of the Mind: Psychiatry and Cinema in the Long 1960s (forthcoming Edinburgh University Press, 2024).

 

Bibliography

Baudry, Jean-Louis, and Alan Williams. “Ideological Effects of the Basic Cinematographic Apparatus.” Film Quarterly, vol. 28, no. 2, 1974, pp. 39–47. 

Laing, R.D. 1960. The Divided Self: An Existential Study in Sanity and Madness. (2010 edition) Penguin Modern Classics.

Laing, R.D. 1970. Sanity, Madness and the Family: Families of Schizophrenics. Penguin Books Ltd

Metz, Christian, and Alfred Guzzetti. “The Fiction Film and Its Spectator: A Metapsychological Study.” New Literary History, vol. 8, no. 1, 1976, pp. 75–105. 

Mulvey, Laura. 1975. "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema." Screen, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 6-18

 

Filmography

Secrets of a Soul (1926, G. W. Pabst) 

Calling Dr Death (1943, Reginald Le Borg)

Shock (1946, Alfred L. Werker)

Dark Mirror (1946, Robert Siodmak)

Possessed (1947, Curtis Bernhardt)

The Snake Pit (1948, Anatole Litvak)

The Three Faces of Eve (1957, Nunnally Johnson)

Psycho (1960, Alfred Hitchcock)

The Caretakers (1963, Hal Bartlett)

The Collector (1965, William Wyler)

Repulsion (1965, Roman Polanski)

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