The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
directed by Anthony Minghella

"Failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behavior, deceitfulness as indicated by repeated lying, use of aliases, or conning others to personal profit or pleasure, impulsivity or failure to plan ahead... reckless disregard for safety of self or others... (and) lack of remorse." (From the DSM-IV criteria for Antisocial Personality Disorder)

Si Può Fare (It Can Be Done) (2008)
directed by Giulio Manfredonia

Si Può Fare is an Italian, fact-based film best described as a serio-comedy, telling the story of a group of psychiatric patients who, with the help of a leftist labor organizer, morph from being marginalized outsiders to being a successful artisanal collective.

The story brings alive a number of psychological concepts: e.g. the ways in which self concept is shaped by the social and familial surround, and the power and pitfalls of group life. We see, in addition, some interesting examples of how theory, embedded as it is in culture, shapes clinical judgment.

April 1, 2011

The Reader (2008)
directed by Stephen Daldry

With World War II over, Germany, in 1958, is still recovering. Deep within Heidelberg, Germany, Michael, a young pubescent teenager haven fallen ill, is comforted by Hanna, a hard working woman who is twice his age. Taken by her generosity, Michael revisits Hanna to offer his gratitude. What begins as an awkward reunion escalates into a seductive, forbidden affair that intensifies when Michael begins reading to the distant, empty Hanna, who is deeply awakened by Michael's spoken literature.

Too young to understand love's complicated implications, Michael is emotionally devastated when Hanna suddenly disappears. Nearly a decade later, unable to forget his passionate summer while studying law, he attends a Nazi trail, and to his dismay, hears Hanna's distant voice....