Erik Skjoldbjærg: Prozac Nation

Erik Skjoldbjaerg directed Prozac Nation (2001), a respectable film adaption of Elizabeth Wurtzel's Prozac Nation: Young and Depressed in America (1994) that was finally released on DVD in the summer of 2006.

Prozac Nation had unfortunate timing and bad luck -- its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2001 came three days before that day; given the gloominess of the subject matter (depression and narcissism) and the acquisition of distribution rights by Disney's Miramax Films, theatrical release was stalled for years. In fact, it never had a proper run in the USA and was first aired on cable TV in 2005.

In the movie (as in the book), we follow Elizabeth Wurtzel (b. 7/31/1967 in New York City) to Harvard, where she won the Rolling Stone College Journalism Award in 1986. Coming from a tiny broken family, Wurtzel (played deftly and hypnotically by Christina Ricci) is obssessed with writing and cyclically "isolates," descending into depression. Once the viewer sees how she relates to her stressed, super-involved mother (nicely acted by Jessica Lange) and flaky, absent father (believebly rendered by Nick Campbell), all the rest seems clear -- fear of too much intimacy, fear of abandonment, need for perfection, etc. Anne Heche's (Dr. Sterling) character helps explore these issues, especially after Wurtzel manages to alienate her friends (and everyone else), including Noah (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), Ruby (Michelle Williams), and Rafe (Jason Biggs), and in one particularly awful (and darkly funny) scene, her grandparents.

I like this movie. Christina Ricci is always visually fun to watch -- her eyes and expressions especially. Some might find the pace of Prozac Nation depressing, but that's partly the point, isn't it? I'd compare Erik Skjoldbjaerg's approach to his fellow Norwegian Bent Hamer's in Factotum (2005). They are thoughftul and unrushed, quietly humorous, and empathetic to all their characters. There is no clear black and white line to laze into. In that sense, they also remind of Wim Wenders with a little less poetry.

Ricci gets to deliver a lot of funny deadpan lines like, "Poor Ruby. I killed her joy" and, trying to explain why she had sex with Ruby's boyfriend at a party: "It was sort of an accidental blow job." When her mother (Lange) bemoans, "I can't believe we're back to this," Ricci/Elizabeth says, all too understandably, "I can't live with other people." She's an evil thing, certainly, but Ricci manages to make her very likeable despite her cutting outburts. When her mother is recuperating from a mugging without the proffered Demerol, her daughter quips via narration: "She refuses pain killing drugs? Can we possibly be related?" When she meets the kindly Rafe on a first date, the voice in her head mutters, "Do not show him how creepy you are." Not long afterwards she asks him, "What am I?" "Scary." And later still: "Oh my God: I've become the ultimate nightmare girlfriend." Indeed she has. Along the way, there are references to -- and images of -- Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground (Lou has a small role as himself), Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen, and Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart." All nicely worked in, along with subtle depressive color schemes modeled on Edvard Munch's alienated paintings.

In real life, Elizabeth Wurtzel has a reputation for being "difficult" and is known to mouth off. After Prozac Nation, she finished Bitch: In Praise of Difficult Woman (1998), which is funny in a wicked kind of way, plus a dashed-off sequel to Prozac Nation. Which reminds me of another line quipped by Ricci/Wurtzel: "You know, if you're going to suggest therapy, don't. I'm living proof it doesn't work."

(If you really want to see an excruciatingly slow paced film, try Luchino Visconti's Morte a Venezia / A Death in Venice, 1971, starring the great Dirk Bogarde. It is guaranteed to drive you to despairing thoughts and great discomfort, wondering when will this movie ever end? If you want to drive someone to near madness, take them to see it in a theatre. It's a real treat! I saw it double-billed with The Damned).

Today's Rune: Joy.

Vi snakkes -- Ser deg senere!