Totally 'Mental'

Went to the opening screening of “Mental” at Randwick Ritz tonight. The director P J Hogan was there to open the screening. On stage he said it as a very personal story and some of the events in the movie did happen in real life. As a carer himself who has two autistic kids and two siblings who are suffering from mental illness he said he felt compelled to tell the story. The story was based on a real character he knew and he credited that person who changed his life through a very different way. He also said that he wanted to make a comedy because he understands that people who are carers themselves know that it will be hard to get by every single day if they don’t let it out and have a laugh. He emphasised that the movie is politically incorrect because he, as a first person, believes that if we tip toe around what can and cannot be said, we are not facing the issues upfront, and people will not be able to understand what these people were going through.

After rounds of applause from an audience who are mostly carers (Randwick Council reserved quite a number of seats for carers to attend the event), the light dimmed and what is left was the images and sound of a personal story to be told. The movie opened up with an imitation of  ‘Sound of Music’ as the camera flew over mountaintops, valleys, and waters, before it arrives a fancy suburbia where an ordinary housewife burst into her common looking backyard singing to the tunes of “The hills are alive with the sound of music!” It was a hardly recognisable Rebecca Gibney who twirled and sang to her daily chores. Everyone in the neighbourhood reacted with weird but “got-used-to-it” look as her four younger daughters hurried back into the house asking their eldest to execute an intervention. What they were not expecting was that Coral, the eldest of them all were obsessed with whether she has mental illness herself. The tone of the movie was set right there and then without a single bit of sugar coating. This is what we are talking about – a family dealing with mental illness.

At the beginning and from the billing, you would expect that Toni Collette, who played the title character, would turn this into her one-woman show. This is so far from the truth. Don’t take me wrong; Toni Collette was brilliant in it. Her personification of the lead character was marvellous and right on the dot. Toni Collette’s stint in “The United States of Tara” had built her versatility to a point that she was just there being the character itself. Everything looked easy and natural. However, with an out standing performance from Rebecca Gibney and other supporting cast, “Mental” had really became a mental experience that you could not take your eyes off the screen. Rebecca Gibney had delivered a performance that surpassed any single episode she did in “Packed to the Rafters”. She is not about glamour or even ordinary in this movie – she was down right there in the gutter. The five girls who played her daughters were loud but funny at the same time. Each of them exhibited her own way of dealing with a mentally ill mum while at the same time trying to come to terms with her own life. Mental illness became something they lived with and talked about at home but shied away in the public The hardships and dilemmas were captured perfectly. Even all the other characters such as Anthony LaPaglia’s “Kennedy” dad and Caroline Goodall’s doll obsessed sister were very eye catching. And no matter what, do not miss the scene between Toni Collette, Rebecca Gibney and Deborah Mailman in the mental hospital.

“Mental” is not a kind of movie that the American audience would understand. It is very Australian and the broad Australian accent littered all over the place might even make it hard for some to understand. Also it did not shy away from making references to all things Australian, including some of the biggest names in the country. However, as an Australian movie, I think it hit the right mark in many places. It was down to earth, layback and unpretentious, and that’s what I think Australian movies are good at.  I love the way that the movie did not give a damn to how the outside world sees it but just enjoy being as Australian as possible. Maybe it is a good indication that we should stop trying to please an outside world that doesn’t necessary appreciate who we are, and just be ourselves.

If you want a relaxing and fun night out, I highly recommend “Mental”. “Mental” opened today across Sydney.