Opium: Diary of a Madwoman

An angelic madwoman in a German psych ward at the turn of the century becomes the obsession of a doctor, writer, and morphine addict who's lost his muse. Told in bursts of frenetic rage and beautiful, chilling scenes of clinical detachment, I found this movie haunting and wonderful. I'm still thinking about it days later, which is really saying something since I've seen something like eight other films since then.

The heroine has a wonderful range, oscillating between a fragile and very emotional calm and demon-possessed fits. The doctor is fantastically deadpan and detached at all the right times, and the writing and energy between the two is perfect. The cinematography is especially beautiful, with lush period sets and chilling surreal tableaux of clinical experimentation in which women are treated as inanimate test subjects while crowds of curious white-coated doctors peer on emotionless. The alienation of the subjects is palpable. The score alternates between well-used classical and a couple of minimalist electronic themes that work very well.

I've heard some people dismiss the film as, "half pornography." I hate those people. Nudity does not automatically imply pornography, and in this case I'm convinced that it was absolutely necessary to show the complete detachment and disinterest of the medical staff from the subjects as human beings. And much of the subject of the film is the relationship between sex and sin, sex and love, sex and good or evil.

One of the better movies I've seen in a while, all told. I keep replaying the story and themes in my head. I'm still not sure of the characters' true nature, but I enjoy the ambiguity, and I love the possibilities they left open. Definitely something I will see again.