I love Penang for obvious reason – food. But this island is not only home to scrumptious RM7 char kuey teow and cendol, it’s also a heaven for movie enthusiasts. Penang has the biggest collection of movies, from the latest blockbuster to the rarest foreign title, you name it and you will get it. And they are literally dirt cheap.
While in Kuala Lumpur you may have to exhaust your efforts merely in explaining to the Ah Beng about the specific movie you want, the Penang Ah Bengs are in stark contrast to their KL counterpart. The former are a bunch of product knowledgeable folks! It was in Penang that I managed to lay my hands on Malena, Irreversible, Thirteen and many more. My most recent steal is Prozac Nation. I’ve heard so much about the movie but have never seen it in KL. It was a pleasant surprise to discover it at a shoddy stall along Ferringhi Beach.
Prozac Nation is a true story about Elizabeth Wurtzel’s struggle with manic depression or bipolar disorder, as it is known now. Elizabeth Wurtzel was a Harvard freshman, a journalistic prodigy, a drug addict and a walking timebomb.
While I think Christina Ricci was a brilliant choice to play Wurtzel, the thing is she really didn’t have much to do aside from looking stoned and uttering intelligent one liners with a hollow expression. However, looking stoned and uttering intelligent one liners with a hollow expression would not have been enough to convince the audience that she was manic depressive. In this case, the director managed to salvage the movie with appropriate cinematography; plenty of spinning scenes, slow-mo and etc.
Sans shoulder pads, I love the 80s costume.
The tension between Wurtzel and her mother was well-captured. The movie was able to convey their big mutual misunderstanding and their even bigger love for each other. It must be pointed out though at times I was more distracted by Jessica Lange’s permanent horrified expression than being engrossed in her emotions on screen. Such is the savage of plastic surgery…
Check out Jessica Lange’s permanent horrified expression.
The final chapter of the movie began with a quiet scene where Wurtzel’s psychiatrist and her daughter accidentally stumbled upon Wurtzel, who was trying to take her own life. Seeing the mother and daughter, Wurtzel experienced some sort of epiphany and decided not to kill herself. After that, Wurtzel recovered her ability to write and attempted to live normally, albeit on medication.
I appreciate the fact that the movie tries to show that depressed people are not shameless attention seekers. That they do outrageous things in order to “just to feel something”. I also like that the movie managed to show why the depressed are usually withdrawn, mostly because their friends and families do not understand their conditions and the fear and resignation of being labelled as attention whores or drama queens.
I give this movie an 8/10.