Frances

Rating:
Summary: On my Top Ten List
Review: 'Frances' is, quite frankly, one of the most powerful films I have ever seen, and definitely one of the most compelling tales I have seen on film. I saw this movie 17 years after it was first released, but a story such as this loses none of its' power with time, and I was moved, touched and amazed at the life of Frances Farmer, upon whose life this film is based.

First of all, let me say that I saw this on DVD. The DVD version of the movie is crystal clear, though the sound could have been sharper. Colors are crisp and vibrant, and the director's use of film in certain places to create a '30s effect is well-transferred. The only sore point is that there are no extra features on the DVD other than the scene selection. Perhaps a documentary on the star's life would have complimented the movie, but I'm not really complaining. That such an excellent film is available on DVD is gift enough.

The life of Frances Farmer remains one of the most shrouded-in-secrecy tales to come out of Hollywood. Even her autobiography, it is said, was actually written by her 'best friend' Jean Ratcliffe, who doesn't even feature in the movie. I knew none of this when I first stumbled upon this film, which made the horror of the events it contained that much more gruesome and intolerable. For audiences who couldn't stomach 'Hannibal', I have news for you. 'Frances' is a film that deals with true horror, and for that reason this is a film that I will not see again. It

affected me too much.

The film starts with Frances' Seattle days, when she was a schoolgirl who won the essay contest with her stunning view of religion and necessity called 'God Dies'. Jessica Lange's version of the poem is gripping and sets the tone for the rest of the film. To be honest, Jessica Lange playing a 16 year old sounds unbelievable, but she pulls it off. Her transformation from schoolgirl to budding actress to tantrum-throwing firebrand is utterly compelling, and confirmed to me that she is indeed one of the best actresses we have in our company today.

Frances Farmer, according to the movie, was hopelessly controlled by her mother, and to some extent, her soft-spoken father. The unspeakable horrors in this film include the selling of Frances to the mental institution by her mother, something that I could not quite get over. And yet, through it all, the film suggests that Frances is sane, and it is the rest of the world that views an uneven temperament as something that one should be punished for, or even worse, lobotomized. Much has been written of Farmer's supposed lobotomy, and the film insists that it did indeed happened. Farmer herself, in her later years, was known to have told her friends that it did not. Whatever the true story, it cannot be denied that the inhuman treatment that met this girl was shocking and condemnable.

Jessica Lange is perhaps the only actress I have seen on film who has managed to tow the line between restrain and over-the-top so well, as she does here. Her scenes in the mental institution are breathtaking, because it reveals to us what true acting really consists of. Yet, at the same time, it seems as if Lange doesn't really act the part of Farmer. She IS Farmer, for all of the movie. This is at once both curious and remarkable, because no matter how hard I think, I cannot recall a single actress in a true-story adaptation who has managed to convince the audience that they ARE the person they are playing. Alas, Farmer's relationship with her mother, whom she keeps strangely going back to (proving that familial ties can sometimes be the noose around ones' neck) is where Lange hopelessly excels. These scenes are traumatic to sit through, and I must admit I had a tougher time sitting through this than I did during "Dancer in the Dark".

The fascinating thing about this movie is that it reminds us that there was nothing really wrong with Frances Farmer, other than her being an opinionated and strong-willed young woman, who wanted to take control of her own life. But in the '30s, this was blasphemy, at least to the circles that Farmer stemmed from. Jessica Lange's masterful potrayal of a woman torn between love for family, and love for ones' own sense of Self is something that I will not easily forget.

The scenes in the mental asylum are the ones that are hardest to swallow. And to think that these events actually occured! Frances was repeatedly tortured, raped by orderlies and soldiers who were snuck in, and subject to eight hour stretches of hyrdrotherapy every day (something the film does not show, as it would have been way too graphic to handle). At the end of it, Frances Farmer spent seven years in the mental asylum for no apparent sin. The film does not portray her as a martyr or glorify her, which made me respect it as a body of work even more. It also hints that the lobotomy made Frances 'emotionally calmer', but Lange's subtle performance post-operation hints to us that there was serious emotional and physical damage done. The tilt of her head, the way her face shifts lower toward her neck and thrusts up in spasms every time she tries to talk - these are all signs that Frances Farmer was raped and mutilated from within, and would never again be the same person.

Curiously, the movie does not deal with the years after Farmer's release from the hospital. Incredibly,

she was supposed to have returned one last time to Hollywood and hosted her own TV show. Even her death was a mystery. Cancer of the oesophagus, it was said. Whatever the truth, we can safely say that Frances Farmer was one of Hollywoods' greatest victims, and a fine example that sometimes family can be the worst thing that happens to us.

I strongly recommend this film to all lovers of drama and serious film-making. This deserved more recognition when it came out, and needs to be made more easily available. The DVD edition is in widescreen, with stereo sound. Easy scene access is the only additional feature.

Rating:
Summary: Jessica Lange's greatest performance...
Review: ... and that's saying A LOT. This is not a perfect film, but it's well worth watching just for her amazing interpretation of Frances Farmer.

Rating:
Summary: Noteworthy but manipulative (and overlong)
Review: A real-old-fashioned star vehicle with a surprisingly feminist slant, the film is dominated by Lange (who is, I believe, in every frame of it). In this case, it is the perfect marriage of actor and role. Not only does she look astonishingly like Farmer, but her obliquely neurotic edge and ferocity bring fire and depth to her portrayal. Kim Stanley brings her own, patented, "Method" energy to the mix and nails the perfect combination of "dotty" and "vicious" (NOT easy) as Farmer's mother. To see these amazons at each other's throats is a real joy. Unfortunately, the rest of the film is not quite up to their intensity. It definitely takes the stand that Frances was not crazy--just strong and misunderstood. (BAD Hollywood...BAD BAD Hollywood--you get the picture). And of course, the scenes in the loony bin are a real campfest. (Don't blink--and you'll see Anjelica Huston with a dirty blanket pulled up to her eyes).

Rating:
Summary: Superficial script, but what a performance from Lange!!
Review: A specious account of the troubled life of actress Frances Elena Farmer that is saved by Jessica Lange's incredibly powerful performance. When we first meet Frances as a high-school student, her strong independent character is already formed after she wins first place in an essay contest with "God Dies", an incendiary piece of writing for anyone in 1931, let alone a young girl. The resulting public outcry and controlling manipulative reaction of her mother are a harbinger of what will come. From this early scene the outcome is inevitable, and we become voyeurs of her climactic rise to stardom with the film "Come and Get it" to her dramatic slide into a hellish world of drugs, arrests and brutal, primitive mental institutions. Unfortunately, the script goes out of its way to contrast the independent minded, strong willed actress with contemporaries that are no more than flaccid caricatures. The history of the time is likewise simplified in stereotypical fashion. While this perspective does isolate Frances all the more, the effect is neutralized by the addition of a fictionalized long time friend named Harry. It's great that he is always there with words of encouragement and a shoulder to cry on, but the real Frances never had a Harry. Despite the obstacles presented by a superficial script, Francis is a painful, difficult film to watch and one that stays with you a long time.

Rating:
Summary: Engrossing and Discomforting
Review: all at the same time is the best way to describe this film in my opinion. I have seen it now three times and I notice the small nuances of acting that I overlooked in the first viewing. This movie made me want to know more about Frances Farmer and I bought the now out-of-print book, "Will There Really Be A Morning?" which was Miss Farmer's own autobiographical account of her life.

I find that I immediately admire the strength of this woman and yet feel absolutely astonished that the things that happened to her truly did in a "civilized" society. In fact there seems to be some confusion about whether the famous "...lobotomy gets 'em HOME!" scene in which Miss Farmer is lobotomized with what amounts to no more than a fancy ice-pick really happened. I wish for less ambiguity and more clarity at certain times during the film.

In any event this movie is fine entertainment and the parts are brilliantly played by Jessica Lange as Frances Farmer and Kim Stanley as her controlling and somewhat sadistic mother. Of particular note is the small but brilliantly played part of Dr. Symington played by Lane Smith. It is too bad he didn't have more than a few minutes in this film; He crammed a tom of talent into ten minutes time.

The only reason I don't give this film 5 stars is because not enough of Miss Farmer's life in Indianapolis is covered. It was there that she hosted an afternoon movie and talk show for the years before her death. The mystery that was her life could possibly be further understood if the period from 1958-1970 had been covered. Get this and see for yourself how thought-provoking and haunting it is. This is a very powerful film so be ready to think about it long after you see it.

Rating:
Summary: pseudo intellectual LRH propaganda
Review: Despite all the nice acting and professional shooting this remains a Scientology TM propaganda movie. It is one of those history fakings that try to diabolize all psychiatry Scientology's TM mostwanted enemy (because only the psychs understand what $ is doing). I didn't like this one because it is one more proof for the inevitably growing influence of Scientology TM and Dianetics TM on the Hollywood movie-industry. Think they show this one as a documentary or educational film in their mercantile churches. All too obvious to subtle viewers!

Rating:
Summary: WARNING!
Review: First, if you're squeamish then this won't be the movie for you.

Basically, this is the performance that put Jessica Lange on the map. Her role as Frances Farmer will blow you away. BUT be prepared to be disturbed towards the end of the movie; some people simply will not be able to handle the images that will be presented on the screen. I finished the movie with a terrible stomach ache and couldn't easily sleep for two nights because I couldn't get the end of movie out of my head.

That right there should tell you about the type of visuals you should be prepared for.

MEANWHILE, all you Oscar buffs out there: who should have won the 1982 Best Actress statue, Meryl Streep or Jessica Lange? Jess gets my vote ...

Rating:
Summary: Extraordinaria película
Review: Frances es una de las mejores películas que he visto; dramática, emocionante, con actuaciones espectaculares.
Jessica lange hace su papel de manera extraordinaria.
La película ronda sobre la creatividad de una joven cercenada por su madre, por la sociedad y luego por la ciencia. El amor y odio entre la madre y la hija; un padre timorato, etc.

Rating:
Summary: Extraordinaria película
Review: Frances es una de las mejores películas que he visto; dramática, emocionante, con actuaciones espectaculares.
Jessica lange hace su papel de manera extraordinaria.
La película ronda sobre la creatividad de una joven cercenada por su madre, por la sociedad y luego por la ciencia. El amor y odio entre la madre y la hija; un padre timorato, etc.

Rating:
Summary: Francis Farmer: One of Millions of Psychiatric Victims
Review: Francis is a great film telling the true story of Francis Farmer (Jessica Lange), the tragic tale of a Hollywood actress subjected to the most extreme form of psychiatric abuse possible (lobotomy). The film depicts Francis Farmer as a woman of exceptional intellect and rebellious demenor. As a few relatively minor incidents throw her into the evil grip of the psychiatric estabnlishment, we witness her deterioration due to the psychiatric "treatments".

She is given one chance to escape these psychiatric vultures when her boyfriend comes to rescue her, but tragically stays to try to reconcile with her mother, who then approves the Final Solution: Lobotomy.

It's an important film in that it depicts the true essence of Psychiatry as the evil fascist institution that it was....that it still is. In an era when millions of kids are being drugged with Ridalin, and millions of adults with Prozac, Francis is an ominous warning of the abusers of peoples' minds known as Psychiatrists.