KEAN: Mental Health in the Movies
I saw the film, Kean last week. It’s a relatively obscure film that I’d not seen much publicity for, and by the hype surrounding Borat, Pan’s Labyrinth and Casino Royal, it’s probably not the biggest box-office hit of the moment. There’d been a review of it some months ago in the Guardian, but other than that, no great plaudits. So a few months after its release, I got to see it at Manchester’s Cornerhouse cinema and what a film!
The story centres on a few days in William Kean’s life as he searches Manhattan’s Port Authority bus station, looking for his 7 year old daughter who was abducted a year earlier. Now separated from his partner and living in a bed-sit, the hand-held camera follows his distress and anxiety as he tries to make sense of what’s happened to him. Or rather, what’s happening to him, because his life is unravelling in front of us. Like Borat, one of the films opening scenes sees Keane approaching strangers in the street and on the subway, but where Borats cameras, explicitly aim to ensnare, surprise, horrify and generate knee-jerk reactions from the unsuspecting public; those who Kean approaches, or shouts at, recoil in fear at the stereo-type of a ‘crazy guy’, talking to himself, or worse, screaming in the street.
Films that try to portray the story of someone affected by mental health problems often fall into the trap of either sensationalizing the subject matter, or else shmultzifying its audience to death with saccharine nausea. Brilliant Mind with Russell Crowe, sought to tell the story of mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr, who experienced schizophrenia and to some extent did so, with compassion and mean special effects; for Hollywood, it wasn’t half a bad attempt; a far cry from the histrionics of misinformed and sensational flicks of the 70’s.
Well, Kean is obviously a story of a man whose mental health is fragile, but not once is the issue discussed; you, the audience are left to work out what’s happening through the film’s sometimes difficult 93 minutes. We follow Kean through frustration, distress, anger and despair; we share his needs, both sexual and chemical and ultimately witness his humanity. And yet, none of this is delivered with a trowel, it’s neither clumsy, nor obvious and I for one, didn’t think it played to stereotypes, or sensationalised its story.
Damien Lewis performed this part with great intimacy and considering the small cast, held the audience captivated for the duration of the film. It was a relief to see that someone with mental health problems could be both a sexual being and not the monster that in part, we’re led by our prejudices, to believe that, that’s what he is. Without giving the storyline away, Kean is a film that doesn’t shy away from the issues of mental illness and touches some thorny issues including homelessness, isolation, relationships, sex and drugs; but more than that, it paints a picture, stripped of soundtrack that forces you the viewer, to make your own decisions about Kean and the reality of his life.
Clive Parkinson
Details of the film:
KEANE (93 mins, cert: 15)
Directed by Lodge Kerrigan; starring Damian Lewis, Abigail Breslin, Amy Ryan
Posted on December 8th, 2006
