Therapy pointless
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Therapy pointless |
| Original title | Beyond Therapy |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1987 |
| length | 93 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Robert Altman |
| script |
Christopher Durang , Robert Altman |
| production |
Roger Berlind , Steven Haft |
| music | Gabriel Yared |
| camera | Pierre Mignot |
| cut |
Jennifer Augé , Steve Dunn |
| occupation | |
| |
Therapy is futile (Original title: Beyond Therapy ) is an American comedy film directed by Robert Altman from 1987 . Christopher Durang and Robert Altman wrote the screenplay based on Durang play Despite therapy ( Beyond Therapy ), which for the first time in 1981 with Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Collins had been listed in the lead roles.
action
Prudence replies to a personal ad from Bruce. She meets with him in a French restaurant and they both talk about their lives. After the first exchange of courtesies, Prudence learns quite intimate details, as Bruce is bisexual and has lived with his friend Bob for a year. Prudence is sometimes a little embarrassed about the conversation, especially since the waiter Andrew notices all of this. As the evening progresses, their conversation gets so upset that they argue and Prudence leaves the place furious.
After this meeting, Bruce goes to his regular therapy session with Charlotte. Prudence also seeks out her therapist, Stuart, with whom she was temporarily in love. Both Bruce and Prudence speak to their respective therapists about their encounters. (It later turns out that Charlotte and Stuart - whose offices are in the same building - know each other and have sex regularly. Andrew, the waiter from the restaurant is also in therapy with Charlotte.)
Despite their split in an argument, both feel that their meeting is a mystical encounter. It doesn't take long for Bruce and Prudence to meet again in the French restaurant. But after a short time they quarrel again, but both are fascinated by each other. Again and again they discover similarities and in the end they enter into a relationship with each other. Bruce has no problem even inviting Prudence to his home, even though Bob is there. Although Bob knew about Bruce's new girlfriend, he is still very jealous. He tries to drive Prudence out, so Bruce insists that they should discuss the matter "therapeutically". This doesn't work very well, however, and Bob even calls his mother, who then tries to berate Prudence. She gets it that Prudence wants to go home immediately, but Bruce suggests that they'd better all go to their therapists together. They actually do and now find that both therapists practice next door to each other. Bruce only had to "dump" Bob here in order to finally be alone with Prudence. Bob does the session well at first, but then learns from Charlotte that Bruce never spoke of him here and that she detests homosexual men. Nevertheless, Bob feels liberated and to encourage this, Charlotte encourages him to go one step further. He follows Prudence and Bruce into the French pub and shoots everyone he encounters. But it's only his referee pistol that does no harm. Just nobody knows and so he enjoys the power he now has over people. As a result, everyone sits at the same table, relatively reconciled, and Bruce is firmly convinced that he will marry Prudence. In the course of the conversation everyone argues with everyone again, but after Bob discovers the waiter Andrew, he can imagine letting go of Bruce.
Reviews
Roger Ebert remarked in the Chicago Sun-Times on April 24, 1987 that the film was too quirky. Every scene must have looked funny during the shoot, but cut together they wouldn't give a clear structure. Altman shows a weakness for the irrelevant.
Rotten Tomatoes compared the film to the comedies of Woody Allen .
The lexicon of international films wrote that the film was an "elegantly staged, turbulent game about the relativity of appearance and reality and the individual's longing for security in a crazy, only ostensibly ordered world". The underlying theater piece was implemented "masterfully", the film was "carried by a lot of sympathy for the people".
background
The film was shot in Paris . It grossed around 790,000 US dollars in cinemas in the United States .
literature
- Christopher Durang : Despite all therapy. Comedy in two acts (Original title: Beyond Therapy ). German by Peter Jacobi . American Theater of the Present (Volume 1). Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1987, 87 pages, ISBN 3-596-27102-9
Web links
- Therapy futile in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Therapy useless in rotten tomatoes (English)