Three Christs

This is reminiscent of cuckoo's nest but more dramatic and a bit less comedic. The cast, though, is what I loved about this movie. Excellent acting!!! It's a little slow at times, but be sure to watch this to the end!

Starting with a captivating title and moving on to true events about early years of psychotherapy and defying the norms, and the evolution of doctor-patient relationship. This was a lovely portrayed peace of psychiatry history. I have to commend the alpha level of acting from everybody in the movie as it was filled with emotions of success, disappointment, fear with hope and belief in one's vision. An enjoyable movie indeed

I started out watching this film with some skepticism as psychiatric patients are so often misrepresented. As someone who worked in a state psychiatric facility for a couple of decades, I'm quite familiar with paranoid schizophrenics, and I have to say they were aptly portrayed in Three Christs. I'm not familiar with the study on which it is based but it did influence a lot of what was to come in treatment for these kinds of patients. The message that came across is one that I incorporated into my practice: treating people with respect, dignity, warmth and caring does wonders. The delusions may not go away, but they recede into the background as the patients start to feel cared for and better about life in general. That "Dr. Stone/Stein" was a warm and caring doctor is unquestionable, at least according to the film, and that in itself is a great model for any psychiatric student to emulate.

Aside from that, the film, I believe, would have a limited audience as most people are not terribly interested in the subject. Even someone like me who is interested in the subject found the film boring in select passages. Overall, the actors did a good job with the material.

Such talented actors, somewhat wasted in a meandering story overly loaded with clichés and melodrama. There's a compelling story somewhere underneath all the quirkiness and over-dramatic options, but it never fully surfaces. It feels too staged, even like a play, and I never fully believed that I was seeing real people other than such talented actors. The performance is still worth watching, especially that of the Three Christs, they are all brilliant in their uncharacteristic roles.

"Three Christs" was a last minute choice of mine at the TIFF. As a big Dinklage's fan, and considering that it was a world premiere, it was easy enough to go check it out. I'm glad I did. This movie is one about the brain and its struggles, but it does so with a big heart. It's funny and touching with a good balance, and the acting is top notch (I'm actually a bigger Dinklage's fan after the movie). The underlying themes about psychiatry as science and its potential negative effect on personality, the nature of identity, the complex interaction of desire and fear are inhabiting the film and are as relevant today as they were at the time. In summary, a great entertaining movie with a deeper layer... and a stellar Dinklage!