Shock Head Soul

This is a pretty serious film. It depicts the mental illness of a real-life German lawyer Paul Schreber beginning when he was appointed a high court judge. The case is apparently famous because he wrote down a lot of his thoughts and published them as his memoirs in 1903: the book was then studied by many early psychologists / psychiatrists including Freud.

The film is a mostly a fictionalised reconstruction, but it also has documentary-like features. There are contributions from several present-day medical experts... all dressed up in period costume and answering questions as if present at a legal hearing to decide whether Schreber was fit to be released from his forced confinement.

I found it all quite heavy going. There were passages that seemed quite informative; and other sections where the actors depicted the madness of Schreber and the stress placed on his wife and family. I can't really fault the construction. There are some subtle repetitions which make you feel a bit mad yourself... and some subtle repetitions which make you feel a bit mad yourself... and some blatant repetitions which repeat over and over and give an impression of how frustrating it might be to try and work with the mentally ill.

Don't bother watching this film if you are looking for some light entertainment.

There is some CGI, but nothing too ostentatious. The director wisely avoids trying to depict madness as wacky other-worldly spirits and monsters... mostly.

A friend of mine once spent time in a psychiatric ward. I visited a couple of times and it was the scariest place I have ever been. This film did bring that back a bit. But his illness was nothing like Schreber.

So, hard to watch this film is. If you are interested in understanding mental illness or the history behind some of today's treatments, then it is worth the effort. It is quite grim though. I felt quite sad by the end of it... not so much for Schreber, because we only really see him broken, not as he once was... mostly I was sad for his family, especially his wife, who carried on and supported him to the end.