It may surprise readers of this blog that at one time not too long ago, I suffered from clinical depression. Then again if you read closely, it may surprise you that I’m not suffering from it NOW. You know what? You people are too easily surprised.

Anyway, don’t be alarmed, it’s not as bad as it sounds. For some people depression leads to suicide attempts or year-long agoraphobia episodes, but for me it merely meant that I was feeling a little blue all the time. It’s no way to live your life, but it wasn’t all that serious.

However, it posed an interesting dilemma because I don’t like to drink and I’m terrified of drugs. How does a person in my position self-medicate? I turned to movies. Movies and entertainment are calculated brain-chemistry manipulators. If you’ve ever enjoyed a tear-jerker you know how powerfully you can be manipulated by a series of images coupled with roomful of studio musicians. So, if you’re depressed, what movies can I recommend?

Glad you asked.

DANCER IN THE DARK (DIR: LARS VON TRIER, 2000) So this Czech assembly line worker (Bjork, of all people) is gradually going blind, but she insists on working so she can afford an operation for her child. In the course of trying to raise money she kills a man in self defense, which leads to her being executed for murder. It’s a musical! It’s long, relentlessly grim, and the musical numbers are no fun. Oh, and it’s shot on video. Von Trier bought a 100 or so Sony Digicams to avoid having to do retakes. Though, depressingly, he had to do them anyway.

Watching Icelandic pixie Bjork sink deeper and deeper into her own tragedy, one may conclude that one’s own problems are not so bad.

KUNG POW: ENTER THE FIST (DIR: STEVE ODEKERK, 2002) It is a gauge of how deep my depression was that it took this travesty to cheer me up. Steve Odekerk, the brains behind BRUCE ALMIGHTY and ACE VENTURA, bought the rights to an obscure martial arts picture. Not content to WHAT’S UP TIGER LILY it the way most people would, he digitally inserted himself into the re dubbed footage, added new sequences and characters, and turned it into a comedic fever dream. It’s like reading Mad Magazine on acid. The humor is basically pitched at 10-year-olds, but it hits every time. And even though it didn’t exactly change the history of cinema, there is a sequel due this year: Look for TONGUE OF FURY at a Blockbuster store near you. If they still have ‘em by then.

VERTIGO (DIR: ALFRED HITCHCOCK, 1958) In the annals of American cinema, no actor has been better at playing the chemically imbalanced than Jimmy Stewart. He dazzled as hallucinatory alcoholic Elwood P. Dowd in HARVEY; he took you along with him as he attempted suicide in IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE; you felt his flop sweat as he filibustered congress in MR DEEDS GOES TO WASHINGTON.

I’d argue that he reached his apotheosis in Vertigo. At the start of the movie he’s merely deeply depressed because he’s lost his job as a police detective due to his fear of heights. An old friend from his past hires him to tail his wife, and her suicide under his watch causes him to snap; he becomes obsessive, stalking and tormenting another woman who resembles the lost charge.

The lush Bernard Herrman score, the postcard San Fransisco settings and beautiful photography only serve to throw the despair and intensity into sharp relief.

PLAN NINE FROM OUTER SPACE (DIR: ED WOOD, 1959) I won’t go into detail here except to say that this movie reminds you that no matter how much how little you think of yourself, no matter how inept, poor, or freakish, that you still could raise money to make a movie.

THX 1138 (DIR. GEORGE LUCAS, 1971) If you were ever bothered by how sunny and cheerful the STAR WARS movies were, this may be your tonic. Shot on a shoestring, this is George Lucas’ other view of the future, a world where mankind has devolved to meaningless drones, forced to take drugs to regulate their emotions, working only to work, not allowed to have sex or love. All the characters have shaved heads and much of the film is shot against start white backgrounds. It just FEELS a lot like depression, watching this movie.

As an added plus, the title has turned into a kind of Hitchcock cameo running gag, showing up in most subsequent Lucas projects. It’s a license plate in AMERICAN GRAFFITI, for example. Han Solo identifies himself by that call sign on a radio in STAR WARS. And a certain cinema sound standard is said to have taken its name from it.

Of course, movies aren’t the only place to find depression-ready entertainment. TWIN PEAKS makes great viewing for depressives, as does the X-FILES. As far as music goes, I refer you to my other podcast. So, can anyone recommend good material for cheerful, recently divorced singles?

-daniel k

This entry was posted on Monday, March 17th, 2008 at 2:31 pm and is filed under General, Motion Pictures. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.