Cast:
Sheila Allen (Meg the Peg), Susanka Fraey, Liz Danciger, Ann Lynn, Penny Slinger, Jane Arden (Therapist), Sally Minford (Cellist), Jenny Moss, Liz Kustow, Rosie Marcham, Elaine Donovan, and Bill Deasey. Written and Directed by Jane Arden.
Review:
You have to consider the following: this was the one and only British feature film in the 1970s to be solely directed by a woman. You also have to consider that for several years, one could not find these films on home video until the 20th century. Jane Arden was responsible for three projects as a director alongside a handful of writing credits to go with occasional features as an actress, having served as a student of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She did a handful of writing for ITV and BBC Television for a number of years in the mid 1950s with playwrighting as well (such as The Party in 1958, which had Charles Laughton direct it). The mid-1960s saw her shift her interest to feminism and anti-psychiatry alongside work with Jack Bond, with Arden first working with him on the documentary film Dali in New York (1966) and as writer for Separation (1967); Vagina Rex and the Gas Oven (1969) and A New Communion for Freaks, Prophets and Witches (1971) reflect her work. Her directing credits are made of two features: this film and Anti-Clock (1979), all done with Bond (one 37-minute short was also done with Vibration (1974)). Arden suffered from depression for a number of years before taking her own life in 1982, dying at the age of 55. Bond was so stricken by her death that he didn't want to have the films screened for a number of years, and it was only in 2009 that one could actually see the movies on video.
In 1970, she formed a radical feminist theatre group that was named "Holocaust". As such, the group would star in this feature film before later disbanding. Rampant use of drugs and alcohol would occur during production (as evidenced by Allen and Morgan). The BFI restoration also presents four deleted sequences as a workprint version, which runs longer than the 107 minute run-time of the original cut (one can imagine watching 142 and 133 minutes if they are curious for chaos). So, here we are with a movie of chaos, complete with a bear that attacked six of the crew and a breakout from escaped mental patients (it was Arden's suggestion to use real inmates of an asylum for a party scene). It goes without saying that the movie is a strange and endearing adventure for every viewer, particularly ones not familiar with group therapy. Well, that and all of the imagery: nightgowns, shouting, stains on sheets, and a crucifixion (of course there's also sex, but who's counting?). Allen and the others undergo a primal therapy that is unnerving at times with plenty of curiosity that goes on its own way about expressing traumas and taboos without searching for outright answers. So yes, there is a look into the mind of people suffering from mental anguish in all of its layers, unseemly or not; in search of madness, one finds more than just that, because figuring out what is real or not is up to the viewer. It may be obtuse, but it is an angry obtuse and surreal movie that wanders across the psyche with varying levels of effectiveness in entertainment. Some will find it meandering, while others will find it curiously inventive, and to me it sits firmly in the middle as a curious achievement for Jane Arden that will likely reward a curious viewer looking for hearing neglected voices.
Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.
Next Time: Half-past the month, half-past Women Directors Month - Hester Street is next.
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