Nice Films To Watch

The World of Z

His art has been compared to da Vinci, his writings have been compared to Bukowski, and his life has been compared to Van Gogh. Considered an "insane genius" by those who know him, Zbigniew Fiks is a manic-depressive outsider artist, revealed in this stunning portrait of mental illness and creativity. The film follows Z's three-year bipolar cycle, exposing his wild fluctuations from madness to reclusive depression. Interwoven throughout are his personal home videos, films and audiotapes. Interviews with friends and family add to his personal history. His poetry is a product of his illness, illustrating Z's truly unforgettable story.

A Beautiful Mind.

A Beautiful Mind is a 2001 American biographical drama film based on the life of John Nash, a Nobel Laureate in Economics. The film was directed by Ron Howard, from a screenplay written by Akiva Goldsman. It was inspired by a bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-nominated 1998 book of the same name by Sylvia Nasar. The film stars Russell Crowe, along with Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly, Paul Bettany and Christopher Plummer in supporting roles. The story begins in the early years of a young prodigy named John Nash. Early in the film, Nash begins developing paranoid schizophrenia and endures delusional episodes while painfully watching the loss and burden his condition brings on his wife and friends.
The film opened in the United States cinemas on December 21, 2001. It went to gross over $313 million worldwide and to win four Academy Awards, for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress. It was also nominated for Best Actor, Best Film Editing, Best Makeup, and Best Original Score.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Beautiful_Mind_(film)

TEPHEN FRY: THE SECRET LIFE OF THE MANIC DEPRESSIVE

Stephen Fry presents this documentary exploring the disease of manic depression; a little understood but potentially devastating condition affecting an estimated two percent of the population.

Stephen embarks on an emotional journey to meet fellow sufferers, and discuss the literal highs and lows of being bi-polar.

Celebrities such as Carrie Fisher and Richard Dreyfuss invite the comedian into their home to relate their stories.

Plus Stephen looks into the lives of ordinary people trying to deal with the illness at work and home, and of course to the people studying manic depression in an effort to better control it. A fascinating, moving and ultimately very entertaining Emmy Award-winning programme.

http://documentaryheaven.com/stephen...ic-depressive/

The Doctor Who Hears Voices.

In this powerful and thought-provoking film, BAFTA-award winning director Leo Regan, takes a challenging look at how society deals with mental illness, using an innovative mix of contemporaneous documentary footage and dramatised scenes. To protect her anonymity, Ruth is played by BAFTA-nominated actress Ruth Wilson and some details have been changed.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5B6D685236A79C41

Up/down

A documentary about people with bipolar. It's quite interesting how different people react to it.

i am going to watch every single movie in this list.... have watched 2 already... i loved Ruth Wilson in luther so The Doctor Who Hears Voices will be first on my list......

Thank you so much for sharing these!

im also enjoying this list. Watching the doctor who hears voices now. Ill have a review tomorrow.

I recently watched the Stephen Fry doc. It's on YouTube if anyone is curious. I normally get quite bored during the intro to bipolar disorder type flicks and thought that's all that it would be but, it wasn't! Well, some of it was but Stephen's personal accounts were quite interesting though I think his midfilm mood shifts were total gimmicks for the camera. I didn't like how they portrayed Carrie Fisher either. The music and camera work in her home and Stephen's comment about imagining her off medication was rather rude but, maybe that's because I really don't find Carrie Fisher to come across as that crazy or even particularily abnormal in her public appearances and personal accounts of bipolar. I relate!

I also like that that film deals with the question of agreeing to be medicated or not and that Stephen Fry and others in the documentary are doing it without medication. It isn't a documentary that tells us what we need to do with our lives but, what we should know.

i've heard of all of these, but i've not seen them

think first on my list will be a beautiful mind, followed by the one about the artist- as those 2 i've heard a lot more about

Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
122 min - Comedy | Drama | Romance - 25 December 2012 (USA)

After a stint in a mental institution, former teacher Pat Solitano moves back in with his parents and tries to reconcile with his ex-wife. Things get more challenging when Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious girl with problems of her own.

Storyline
Against medical advice and without the knowledge of her husband Pat Solatano Sr., caring Dolores Solatano discharges her adult son, Pat Solatano Jr., from a Maryland mental health institution after his minimum eight month court ordered stint.

The condition of the release includes Pat Jr. moving back in with his parents in their Philadelphia home. Although Pat Jr.'s institutionalization was due to him beating up the lover of his wife Nikki, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Nikki has since left him and has received a restraining order against him. Although he is on medication (which he doesn't take because of the way it makes him feel) and has mandatory therapy sessions, Pat Jr. feels like he can manage on the outside solely by healthy living and looking for the "silver linings" in his life.

His goals are to get his old job back as a substitute teacher, but more importantly reunite with Nikki. He finds there are certain instances where he doesn't cope well, however no less so ... Written by Huggo

Monk (2002–2009)
TV Series - 47 min - Comedy | Drama | Mystery

Adrian Monk is a brilliant San Francisco detective, whose obsessive compulsive disorder just happens to get in the way.

Storyline
Former police detective Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub) has suffered from intensified obsessive- compulsive disorder and a variety of phobias since the murder of his wife, Trudy, in 1997. Despite his photographic memory and his amazing ability to piece tiny clues together, he is now on psychiatric leave from the San Francisco Police Department. Aided by his friend and practical nurse, Sharona Fleming (Bitty Schram), Monk works as a freelance detective/consultant, hoping to convince his former boss, Captain Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine), to allow him to return to the force. Stottlemeyer wavers between admiration for Monk and annoyance at his eccentricities. Moreover, he harbors serious doubts about the wisdom of allowing Monk to carry a gun. Stottlemeyer's second-in-command, Lieutenant Disher (Jason Gray-Stanford), also has his doubts about Monk but seems to be developing a reluctant admiration for the "defective detective." Written by CarolT

These are all good films the world of z was a great look into the life of a rather eccentric fellow. I would consider him more eccentric than bipolar. But that's just me.

A beautiful mind is my favorite movie of all times. I started watching "The World of Z" and to be honest I was dissapointed. Without giving anything away, I found the guy to be abusing the system by admitting all he does is "get drunk and wait for his disability checks to come in." That disturbed me greatly. I know there are people disabled from bipolar, but to blatantly admit you are spending the governments money for your disability on booze to support your alcholism is sickening to me. He is doing nothing to help himself. Mind you, I didn't watch the whole thing because I was so turned off, but this was my review if anyone is interested. I am looking foward to watching the others....

I saw A Beautiful Mind several years ago and felt absolutely no connection to it. My mother-in-law, however, felt it realy fit in to how she felt. So, I think it's hit or miss on that one.

Drop Dead Fred (1991)
- Comedy | Drama | Fantasy - 19 April 1991 (USA)

A young woman finds her already unstable life rocked by the presence of a rambunctious imaginary friend from childhood.

Storyline
A young woman who's attempting to find her place in the world battles with her controlling mother and a womanizing husband finds comfort and confusion with the appearance of her childhood friend. It is a zappy movie that emphasizes self-actualization. Written by C. Marshall

Psychological interpretation
Although the film was usually cited as a comedy, some critics also took note of its psychological aspects. Writing for Entertainment Weekly, Margaret Lyons asked, "...is it supposed to be hilarious, or a really, really depressing story about the long-term effects of emotional abuse?"[2] Writing for Mystical Movie Guide, Carl J. Schroeder wrote, "The imaginary friend is cavortingly rude for a reason; he served to push the girlchild to do mischief for attention and as a cry for help. Now grown up, the woman has forgotten and is about to lose her soul, so events call for some kind of literal return of her demon to force the exposure of her pain. This psychic crisis is poignantly realistic... The creature who is visible only to the woman is like a poltergeist energy of her repressed self, a problematic ego container into which her powers of assertion and creativity were poured and stored. The movie's resolution is startlingly beautiful..."

More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drop_Dead_Fred

Reality of Recovery
Documentary highlighting the "Recovery" movement for those affected with Mental Illness

http://www.recoverycenterhc.org/recovery-video-6.htm