Director
James Mangold
Leading Actors/Actresses
Winona Ryder, Angelina Jolie
Supporting Actors/Actresses
Whoopi Goldberg, Elizabeth Moss, Clea DuVall, Brittany Murphy, Jared Leto,
Genre
Drama, Biography
Language
English
Awards
Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Angelina Jolie
Date of Release
1999
Producer
Cathy Konrad, Douglas Wick
Setting and Context
A mental hospital in the 1960s
Narrator and Point of View
The point of view is that of Susanna
Tone and Mood
Dramatic, Realistic and Serious
Protagonist and Antagonist
Protagonist is Susanna and antagonist is Lisa
Major Conflict
Susanna is admitted to a mental hospital not knowing why she is sick
Climax
Lisa threatens to kill Susanna and then herself the night before Susanna is scheduled to leave the hospital. She decides not to do either, and Susanna after reclaiming the autonomy in her life and her ability to express herself re-enters the world.
Foreshadowing
The opening shot of Lisa in Susanna's lap foreshadows that something deep is going to happen between the two.
Understatement
Mangold understates the affair that Susanna has with one of her school mates fathers.
Innovations in Filming or Lighting or Camera Techniques
n/a
Allusions
The film is an allusion to Dorothy's journey in The Wizard of Oz
Paradox
Susanna is released from the mental hospital but without an explanation as to what she's been cured of.
Parallelism
The opening shot is paralleled at the end of the movie where we see that Lisa has attempted to kill Susanna and take her own life in the basement of the hospital.
