Something movies today pretty much lack altogether. Bottom line: the realization is great, the feel is awesome, the story highly intellectual.
It is not a horror story, either, although it is frightening at places certainly not a monster and gore film. I plan on reading the book, see what the author actually meant. I feel that in the context of this movie, it is irrelevant. William Hurt is just wonderful, while the other few actors are just there to support him.
The soundtrack plays a great factor here, too.
Altered states movie#
Ken Russel does a brilliant movie that grabs your emotions and twists them around. Most impressive for this movie is the construction. I have seen this movie before, when I was a child, and I remember the sense of awe I got from it, if nothing else. A time when brilliant scientific geniuses fresh out of universities and doing their magic was cool rather than frightening and dorky. Drew Barrymore makes her film debut at age 5, and also keep an eye out for John Larroquette.Īh, the 80's. The film ends up in territory very reminiscent of 2001: A Space Odyssey, but I thought it all worked pretty well. The plot is silly, but it's legitimately eerie and frightening, thanks to Russell's surprisingly excellent direction. Blair Brown plays his estranged and worried wife, and Charles Haid and Bob Balaban (love the Balaban!) play colleagues who help Hurt do his experiments. Unfortunately, some mushrooms that he finds in Mexico help him regress not only mentally, but physiologically. He hopes to lose his modern mind in the sensory deprivation tank and regress to a primitive state. William Hurt makes his screen debut as a mad scientist, a Harvard professor, actually, who is experimenting with sensory deprivation, mixed with some choice hallucinogens. The greatest asset of the film is the fantastic acting. He disowned the film before he even saw a cut of it, despite the fact that Russell was contractually obligated not to change a word of the script. Not the writer you would associate with horror or sci-fi, which is the proper genres to which Altered States belongs. The script was written by Paddy Chayefsky, based on his own novel. It contains everything that is good about Russell, that is, his crazy imagery, and none of the bad stuff. If I had seen that earlier, I would have avoided it. I put it on my Netflix queue without realizing it was directed by Ken Russell. and remember to love.īizarre cinematic head-trip that is far better and more entertaining than anyone could guess from a description. And if it doesn't turn your crank-or turns it the wrong way-then find your joy in another film or other media. Altered States isn't one of the very best films I've seen, but it surely has been a source of joy for me.
But the central idea of a commonality, a kinship that humans have with one another and the danger of setting oneself apart to avoid the pain of interacting and loving is, I believe, supremely satisfying at both an intellectual and emotional level. There are scenes of blasphemy that I know have put off Evangelical friends of mine. The imagery is disturbing and, at times, repulsive. Altered States is not for the weak of stomach or the easily offended. I want to praise Altered States for its emotional and intellectual message of the power of love to embrace us all and heal our wounds. I'm not going to praise the fine performances, the dazzling special effects, or the painful, emotional epiphany that the lead character, Eddie Jessup (William Hurt) experiences as he fights his way past the roadblock of pure intellect. Altered States is a harshly beautiful and intellectual movie based on a book with the same adjectives. I personally don't care if Chayevsky disowned the movie or if Russell resented him for it or how many angels you can set on the head of a pin, for that matter. It's been a quarter century since I first experienced Altered States, Ken Russell's take on Paddy Chayevsky's novel of the search for a common bond between all of us, the ability to love.
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