Dreams and madness

The Depiction of Madness in Film
With specific reference to Psycho (1960),
eXistenZ (1999) and The Cell (2000)
Alice Shone
10016244
Dreams and Visions in the Moving Image
LMD09148

2
It is with good reason that the comparison between the moving image and
dreams is a popular one.1 Being so close yet so far from reality while watching a film
is not dissimilar to the recollection of a dream one might have. Within a film an
audience is taken through a series of events in which the narrative is deciphered
through the interpretation of signs making up the mise en scène. It is these signs
that are recognised and then used to make meaning from dreams. With every aspect
of the frame decided on (albeit unconsciously in reference to the dream state) and
the process of a character, for example being able to go from one country to another
within a single frame, makes the memory of one's dream interchangeable with the
experience of watching a film. This use of the suture2 and mise en scène make the
language of dreams, like cinema, one based upon visuals to guide a narrative.
Quite often it is difficult to understand the narrative of one's dreams, with
each dream seeming like a selection of random images joined together. Interest in
dream imagery dates back to prehistory with depictions from as early as the eighth
century BC in Ancient Greece. In two poems, entitled The Iliad and The Odyssey by
Homer, it is suggested that the Greeks believed that whatever seen in a dream is
physical but only can be experienced during sleep.3 As apposed to the Greeks who
believed messages received in dreams were formally unknown information, Sigmund
Freud insisted that "... the dream actually does possess a meaning, and that a
scientific method of dream-interpretation is possible."4 While taking into account
1
Ruscaroli, Laura, [Online], Oneiric Metaphor in Film Theory, [Cited 17th April 2015], Available from:
hthttp://www.kinema.uwaterloo.ca/article.php?id=141&feature
2
Silverman, Kaja, "Suture: the cinematic Model" in Identity: a reader, (SAGE publications limited,
2000), p. 76
3
Holowchk, Mark, "Introduction" in Ancient Science and Dreams, (University Press of America, Inc.,
2002), p. 21
4
Freud, Sigmund, and Wilson, Stephen "The Method of Dream Interpretation" in The Interpretation of
Dreams, ed. Griffith, Tom, (Wordsworth Editions Limited, 1997), p. 14

3
culture and social background, he analysed the dreams of his patients to uncover
repressed memories that may have been causing psychosis.
The dream as a portal into the desires and fears of the unconscious
interested the physician and teacher to Freud, Josef Breuer. Before Freud's The
Interpretation of Dreams Breuer famously encouraged the delusions and fantasies of
his patient Bertha Pappenheim (who was given the pseudonym Anna O.) in an
attempt to relieve her suffering 5. As she talked through each memory her symptoms
would seem to disappear and it was through this discovery that the idea of the
unconscious came to light6. The act of talking through problems which may
previously have been unconscious can have the same functionality as watching a
film, and with this can serve as a type of therapy. To watch a film enables an
audience to consider how they would react to the situation playing out in front of
them which can then help in the working out of personal problems. It is pointed out
in Film Theory: An Introduction, "The apparatus, projecting images onto a screen,
mimes a form of archaic satisfaction, returning the spectator to a time when the
separation between the subject's body and the world was ill-defined."7 It is this
suspension of oneself which is also achieved in dreams during sleep. It is mentioned
earlier in the chapter that Freud describes dreaming as being in "... a state of
regression comparable to the beginning of a psychic life, where perception and
representation are not differentiated."8 This statement could be transferable to
5
Lebeau, Vicky, "From Charcot to Freud: The Origins of Psychoanalysis" in Psychoanalysis and Cinema,
(Wallflower Press, 2001), p. 26
6
Lebeau, Vicky, "From Charcot to Freud: The Origins of Psychoanalysis" in Psychoanalysis and Cinema,
(Wallflower Press, 2001), p. 27
7
Lapsley, Robert & Westlake, Michael. "Psychoanalysis" in Film Theory: An Introduction (Manchester
University Press, 1988), p. 81
8
Lapsley, Robert & Westlake, Michael. "Psychoanalysis" in Film Theory: An Introduction (Manchester
University Press, 1988), p. 80

4
describing the act of watching a film, but when the line between the fantasy world
on the screen and real life has not been crossed.
If the line which separates fantasy from reality becomes confused it can
cause delusions and hallucinations. When the association between signifier and
signified has been severed it is difficult to tell the difference between what is
happening in reality and signals in the brain failing to tie meaning to subject9. While
this is often a symptom of schizophrenia, it can also be one of dissociative identity
disorder, a psychological disorder where a patient can occupy two or more
personalities. It is suggested by Joshua David Bellin that, "... if so many fantasy film
narratives are devoted to issues of mental illness, this may be because the form of
fantasy films is related to the condition of mental illness."10 Although Bellin mentions
fantasy films in particular, this could equally adhere to conventions of any genre
where mental illness is explored. This is achieved by the cutting between the reality
of the character and the un-reality, whether that be memory (flash-back),
imagination or hallucination.
There are many films which depict a character or characters with a split
personality disorder. Three in particular are: David Cronenberg's eXistenZ (1999),
Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960), and Tarsem Singh's The Cell (2000). Within each of
these films there are similarities and differences to how madness is portrayed and
perceived. By following and sometimes subverting conventions of dreams the
filmmakers invite the audience to psychoanalyse the protagonists by reading the
9
Leader, Darian, "The Basics" in What is Madness?, (Penguin, 2012), p. 44
10
Bellin, Joshua David, "Monstrous Minds" in Framing Monsters, (Southern Illinois University Press,
2005), p. 138

5
signs and mise en scène while also taking into consideration society at the time of
conception.
It is important to take notice of society when it comes to the interpretation of
a film. There will be hints within the film of social anxieties at the time it is set and
this can lead to a greater understanding of the characters and their circumstance.
Film scholar, Bridget Cherry also carries out audience research and noticed,
"Addressing contemporary social anxieties (which may be the subject of frenzied
media coverage) in this way can allow the viewer to also work through those fears,
and further it can also explain why horror is so enduring and popular."11 Fears are
often explored within the horror genre and can be considered almost as therapy for
the audience.
The novel that the film Psycho was adapted from was written just one year
before the film was released (1859) and displays much of the social anxieties of
America at that time. With the industrial growth in the 1950's the big businesses
flourished while the more independent companies struggled. There was also the
search for the American ideal, with cars more affordable people moved from the city
to the suburbs in the hope of finding a better life. In Psycho Marion Crane steals
$40,000 as she believes this will solve her problems and she will be able to start a
new life with Sam Loomis who she is having a secret affair with. This search for the
American dream ends in devastation for Marion (murdered by Norman), similar to
the disappointment of society. The fears of modernisation are displayed within in
the set design with the juxtaposition of the old Bates mansion (complete with secret
11
Cherry, Bridget, "Horror and the Cultural Movement" in Horror, (Routledge. 2009), pp. 169-170

6
rooms representing a repressed past12) with its vertical lines, and the more modern
Bates Motel, horizontal in contrast (see figure 1). This not only depicts the
modernisation of America but Norman Bates's place within it13. He is split between
the past and present and his inability to cope matches societies' with America not
having the capacity to have both the past and present ideals simultaneously.
As for eXistenZ and The Cell, society has changed somewhat since the late
50's - early 60's, yet the fear of modernisation is ever present. Technology is at the
foreground in each of these films with the increasing interest in gaming and the
invention of the World Wide Web at the beginning of the 1990's. It is for these
reasons there was a surge of horror films reflecting society's anxieties in the 1990's
and 2000's14. In The Cell, psychotherapist Catherine Dean is able to allow her
consciousness to go in to the minds of patients and exist amongst their thoughts
with the use of futuristic looking machinery. Not only could this technology be seen
as intrusive but psychoanalysts themselves are being criticised here15. Catherine
must try to find the next victim of Carl Stragher by infiltrating his mind while he is in
a coma. This is not a typical serial killer film where the murderer is pure evil, we get
insights in to his tortured past and thus we are able to form empathy. Turning the
audience into the psychoanalyst we are able to see reasons in which someone may
turn out to be a psychotic killer and yet we can also see the faults of the scientists
watching over the process. Having this duel nature expresses society's fear on who
12
Hutchings, Peter, "All in the Mind? The Psychology of Horror" in The Horror Film, (Pearson
Education Limited, 2004), p. 56
13
Žižek, Slavoj, "In His Bold Gaze My Ruin Writ Large" in The Horror Reader, ed. Geldor, Ken,
(Routledge, 2000), p. 75
14
Cherry, Bridget, "Horror and the Cultural Movement" in Horror, (Routledge. 2009), p. 186
15
Bellin, Joshua David, "Monstrous Minds" in Framing Monsters, (Southern Illinois University Press,
2005), p. 154

7
to trust. This along with anxieties about developing technology and the ability to
access any (potentially personal) information on the World Wide Web makes The
Cell as relevant now as it was when it was released.
Cronenberg's films often reflect society in a satirical manner. He believes,
"Society and art exist uneasily together; that's always been the case. If art is anti-
repression, then art and civilisation were not meant for each other. You don't have
to be Freudian to see that."16 Cronenberg goes on to confirm Freud's belief that for
civilisation to take shape rules must be adhered to but with this repression is closely
followed. However from this repression comes expression in the form of art but
within oppressive societies this can be seen as a threat17. Many of Cronenberg's films
make an extreme critique at the media, and with body horror and science fiction
elements he plays on the fears of society. Cronenberg made Videodrome (1983)
sixteen years before eXistenZ and his take on social anxieties has moved from
violence and television to violence and virtual reality games. As with a lot of his
work, eXistenZ looks at the control the media has over society by making a new
game take over participants' lives and the film itself. The film begins at a
congregation where the game developer Allegra Gellar is demonstrating a new game
during which there is an attempt on her life. The murder of a free-thinker is the
repression of new ideas themselves. This oppression harks back to the point that if
there are new ideas, there are also people who want to sabotage them. The film
continues with Allegra and Ted Pikul, a marketing trainee who has been assigned as
16
Cronenberg, David, "Bugs, Spies and Butterflies" in Cronenberg on Cronenberg, ed. Rodley, Chris,
(Faber and Faber, 1992), p. 158
17
Cronenberg, David, "Bugs, Spies and Butterflies" in Cronenberg on Cronenberg, ed. Rodley, Chris,
(Faber and Faber, 1992), p. 169

8
her bodyguard fleeing into the woods (a natural labyrinth) from the "realists" who
want to abolish virtual reality game systems.
There are times throughout each of the films where the audience is aware
that there are characters explicitly demonstrating signs of madness. Whether that
comes from other characters explaining that this is the case early on (The Cell), it
being hinted at and then confirmed by a psychoanalyst at the end (Psycho) or the
protagonists themselves voicing their uneasiness (eXistenZ). There are also less
straightforward hints at madness in each film, with many of them having Freud's
Oedipus complex in common. In Greek mythology, it was prophesised that Oedipus,
who would be king, would kill his father and marry his mother. His attempts to not
let this happen were futile and the prophecy was fulfilled. Freud uses this analogy to
explain separation anxiety from the mother and unconscious desires for the
mother/father18. He believes that if there has been a disturbing instance or instances
during infancy this can became a trauma which continues through adult life. If the
natural progression a child makes to understand the functionality of the parents is
disturbed Freud believes this could be a reason for psychotic tendencies.
The reason behind Norman's madness in Psycho, although explained
explicitly by a psychiatrist at the end, is hinted at throughout the film. It is clear from
when we are introduced to Norman unable to separate from the pre-Oedipal bond
with his mother19. We hear her voice from the old house refusing Marion permission
inside as the first indication of how overbearing she is, and still treats Norman like a
child. It is also in this scene that we see the first use of the bird as a metaphor. The
18
19
Jancovich, Mark, "Fordist Fears: Alien Beings and Rational Control" in Horror, (B.T. Batsford LTD,
1992), p. 81

9
pictures on the wall of the room Marion has been assigned are of songbirds, delicate
and trapped within their frame, like her. Norman encourages Marion to instead
have supper in the parlour decorated with taxidermy birds. This time predators are
amongst the smaller ones - their prey. Hitchcock himself said, "He knows the birds
and he knows they are watching him all the time. He can see his own guilt reflected
in their eyes."20 (see figure 2). Here Norman is disobeying his mother's demands for
him to not have supper with Marion and this is reflected in his paradoxical
conversation (he mentions a fact about birds and claims to know nothing about
them) and the mise en scène (the union of predator and prey).
Birds of prey are also a depiction of nightmare imagery with their claws and
beaks representative of the Gates of Horn (claws) and Ivory (beak) in Homer's
Odyssey21 where horn is representative of truth and ivory of deceit. It is indicated
from this that the nightmare situation for Marion is beginning as she sits amongst
this paradox. The metaphor for horn and ivory is also used explicitly in The Cell when
Carl takes on the form of a horned man (see figure 3). Often in modern day culture a
depiction of Satan, the use of a goat-man hybrid in dream imagery is to show the
embodiment of evil. Carl looks to have taken on the form of a Satyr as apposed to
Satan, with his horns made of hair (note, not horn, thus not truth) and flattened
teeth somewhat like those of a horse. In eXistenZ there is also the use of hybridism
as Allegra (and eventually Ted) see a two-headed creature (see figure 4). The fact it
has two heads is a direct representation of something having two minds - two
personalities and ties in with the theme of madness. It is also a tooth that Ted
20
Truffaut, François, "Psycho: A Film-makers Film" in Hitchcock, (Paladin, 1978). p. 434
21
Milne, Louise, "Spirits and Other Worlds in Nightmare Imagery" in Cosmos 45 (Edinburgh:
Traditional Cosmology Society) p. 179

10
extracts from Allegra's shoulder where she was shot. Teeth stand in the place of
ivory here and this mirrors her deceitful attempted assassination.
The mirror has a common place in dream sequences within film as it is the
literal representation of dreams mirroring reality, perception and memory.
Psychologist Henri Wallon was interested in the captivation with the mirror image at
infancy and pointed out that although we can gain mastery of our body through the
mirror image, it is not us, it is a reflection22. It is due to this that mirrors are used in
film to represent dissociative identity disorder23. The idea that our reflection both is
and is not us is explored in Psycho as neither we nor Marion get to see Marion's
reflection on any surface. Dr George Toles points out that, "Marion refuses to look at
herself, so Norman will look for her."24 She is guilt-ridden and cannot face herself but
Norman's masochism can't help but make him look, he is a voyeur and will be
punished for what his eyes have seen. The prying eyes of the birds in the parlour are
reminiscent of when Oedipus gouged out his own eyes so he didn't have to see the
horrors he caused. The use of eyes as a metaphor is an ongoing theme throughout
Psycho, especially in the famous shower scene. It is just before she gets in the
shower that she decides she will come clean and return the money. The cuts
between Marion's eyes and various round shapes within the bathroom such as the
drain and toilet is a metaphor for cleansing herself of guilt and wrong-doing (see
figure 5). However, this is a metaphor gone wrong in that it is drainage that the shots
of her eyes are being juxtaposed with. She is doomed to the fate of Norman's
22
23
Jacobs, Steven, "Schizoid Architecture: Bates House and Hotel in The Wrong House: The
Architecture of Alfred Hitchcock, (010 Publishers, Rotterdam, 2007). p. 130
24
Toles, George, "If Thine Eye Offend Thee..: Psycho and the Art of Infection" in Alfred Hitchcock
Centenary Essays, ed. Allen, Richard and Ishii-Gonzalèz, S., (British Film Institute, 1999). p. 167

11
mother (who has no eyes) as her eyes become soiled with the realisation of
Norman's secret.
Mirrors don't have an obvious place in eXistenZ and The Cell but the use of
mirroring is present throughout (the same can also be said for Psycho25 with even
Marion and Norman's names mirroring each other). When Catherine is connected to
Carl's mind in The Cell she meets Carl's child self and we learn of the child abuse and
abandonment by his mother. This, along with other traumatic experiences, such as
his baptism, reflect greatly on the way he captures and murders his victims.
Professor Cathy Caruth described trauma within narratives as a way of the
character/s inability to escape the experience/s26. Carl's trauma is endless in both his
waking life and unconscious comatose state. Mirroring is also used as satire in this
film with Carl's heinous acts being linked to the psychiatric profession. The cutting
between Carl and Catherine is showing the similarities between them, they are both
in positions of power. Catherine giving milk to her cat is cut with Carl's victim
submerged in a milky liquid and Carl suspended over his victims frighteningly
matches the process used to enter into a patient (or victim's) mind (see figure 6).
This mirroring is questioning whether psychiatry is truly ethical. There is also the
constant adaptations of surrealist art throughout the dream sequences mirroring the
contradiction between dream and reality (see figure 7).
Satire used to mirror society and religion is a strong theme in eXistenZ.
Allegra is seen as a god as people fall to her feet and the use of high camera angels
looking down on them with them craning their necks as they look up to her (see
25
Toles, George, "If Thine Eye Offend Thee..: Psycho and the Art of Infection" in Alfred Hitchcock
Centenary Essays, ed. Allen, Richard and Ishii-Gonzalèz, S., (British Film Institute, 1999). p. 170
26
Caruth, Cathy, "Introduction: The Wound and the Voice" in Unclaimed Experience, (Johns Hopkins
University Press. 1996), p. 7

12
figure 8). Setting the opening scene in what appears to be a church with the
audience sitting in pews is no coincidence. Even her first and last name being an
almost perfect anagram of each other is Cronenberg showing God as a parody. Some
members of the audience (along with Allegra) enter an alternate reality through
their organic game devices attached from them to Allegra by an umbilical chord
(how Freudian in its reference to Oedipus) (see figure 9). It is here that the attempt is
made on her life and eventually her and Ted enter another alternate reality which
Ted believes starts to feel more real than his real life. This is the sign of pathological
disavowal27 where fantasy and reality have become entwined. The fact that this
alternate reality is so much like reality, as the protagonists know before entering the
game, is a criticism of the choices and free will within society. The lack of cuts
between the different realities transports the audience in to the world of the
protagonists thus leading us to uncertainty as to what is real life and what is the
alternate reality.
There is a firm connection between cinema being both dream-like and similar
to descriptions of mental illnesses as cinema, dreams and mental illness all involve
the interruption of consciousness. Philosopher Thorsten Botz-Bornstein agrees by
saying, "The phenomenon of film is to a very large extent based on the attempts to
make the spectator lose his/her grip on commonsensical distinction between dreams
and reality."28 The use of the suture and signs within the mise en scène enables film
to resemble the unconscious and with this suspend the viewer in a liminal state. The
similarities and dissimilarities reality has with the imaginary is explored within
27
Rushton, Richard, "The Imaginary of Filmic Reality" in The Reality of Film, (Manchester University
Press, 2011), p. 85
28
Botz-Bornstein, Thorsten, "Ingmar Bergman and Dream After Freud" in Films and Dreams,
(Lexington Books, 2007), p. 39

13
eXistenz, Psycho and The Cell and with this gelling of the two, madness is depicted.
Within these films in particular, society and its fears play a large part in the depiction
of the characters' minds and are in some way to blame for their deterioration.
Word count: 3208

14
Figure 1. (Psycho)
The juxtaposition of modernity and the past.
Figure 2. (Psycho)
Norman Bates surrounded by taxidermy birds. (Also note his reflection in the glass in the
top right corner of the frame).
Figure 3. (The Cell)
Carl as a Satyr with his horns of hair.

15
Figure 4. (eXistenZ)
Allegra stroking the two-headed creature in acceptance.
Figure 5. (Psycho)
Similarity between water filling the drain and Marion's dead eye.

16
Mirroring of the two forms of suspension and the act of objectifying.
An example of surrealist imagery similar to Escher's Relativity

17
Figure 8. (eXistenZ)
Members of the congregation looking up at Allegra as if she were a god.
Figure 9.
The volunteers' devices connected to the mother pod by an umbilical chord.

18
Bibliography
The Cell, Dir. Tarsem Singh (New Line Cinema, 2000)
eXistenZ, Dir. David Cronenberg (Alliance Atlantis, 1999)
Jacob's Ladder, Dir. Adrian Lyne (TriStar Pictures, 1990)
Persona, Dir. Ingmar Bergman (United Artists, 1966)
Psycho, Dir. Alfred Hitchcock (Paramount, 1960)
Spellbound Dir. Alfred Hitchcock (United Artists, 1945)
Videodrome, Dir. David Cronenberg (Universal, 1983)
Waking Life, Dir. Richard Linklater (Twentieth Century Fox, 2001)
___________________________________
Bellin, Joshua David, "Monstrous Minds" in Framing Monsters, (Southern Illinois
University Press, 2005), pp. 137-164
Botz-Bornstein, Thorsten, "Ingmar Bergman and Dream After Freud" in Films and
Dreams, (Lexington Books, 2007), pp. 37-54
Caruth, Cathy, "Introduction: The Wound and the Voice" in Unclaimed Experience,
(Johns Hopkins University Press. 1996), pp. 1-10
Cherry, Bridget, "Horror and the Cultural Movement" in Horror, (Routledge. 2009),
pp. 167-211
Cronenberg, David, "Bugs, Spies and Butterflies" in Cronenberg on Cronenberg, ed.
Rodley, Chris, (Faber and Faber, 1992), pp. 157-187
Freud, Sigmund, and Wilson, Stephen "The Method of Dream Interpretation" in The
Interpretation of Dreams, ed. Griffith, Tom, (Wordsworth Editions Limited, 1997), pp.
10-33
Holowchk, Mark, "Introduction" in Ancient Science and Dreams, (University Press of
America, Inc., 2002), pp. 21-24
Hutchings, Peter, "All in the Mind? The Psychology of Horror" in The Horror Film,
(Pearson Education Limited, 2004), p. 55-76
Jacobs, Steven, "Schizoid Architecture: Bates House and Hotel in The W-rong House:
The Architecture of Alfred Hitchcock, (010 Publishers, Rotterdam, 2007). pp. 118-135

19
Jancovich, Mark, "Fordist Fears: Alien Beings and Rational Control" in Horror, (B.T.
Batsford LTD, 1992), pp. 62-82
Karofsky, Amy and Litch, Mary M., "Personal Identity" in Philosophy Through Film,
(Routledge, 2002), pp. 65-91
Lapsley, Robert & Westlake, Michael. "Psychoanalysis" in Film Theory: An
Introduction (Manchester University Press, 1988), pp. 67-104
Leader, Darian, "The Basics" in What is Madness?, (Penguin, 2012), pp. 35-66
Lebeau, Vicky, "From Charcot to Freud: The Origins of Psychoanalysis" in
Psychoanalysis and Cinema, (Wallflower Press, 2001), pp. 11-31
Milne, Louise, "Spirits and Other Worlds in Nightmare Imagery" in Cosmos 45
(Edinburgh: Traditional Cosmology Society) pp. 177-210
Ruscaroli, Laura, [Online], Oneiric Metaphor in Film Theory, [Cited 17th April 2015],
Available from: hthttp://www.kinema.uwaterloo.ca/article.php?id=141&feature,
Last Accessed 20th April 2015
Rushton, Richard, "The Imaginary of Filmic Reality" in The Reality of Film,
(Manchester University Press, 2011), pp. 79-105
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Silverman, Kaja, "Suture: the cinematic Model" in Identity: a reader, (SAGE
publications limited, 2000), pp. 76-86
Toles, George, "If Thine Eye Offend Thee..: Psycho and the Art of Infection" in Alfred
Hitchcock Centenary Essays, ed. Allen, Richard and Ishii-Gonzalèz, S., (British Film
Institute, 1999). pp. 158-174
Truffaut, François, "Psycho: A Film-makers Film" in Hitchcock, (Paladin, 1978). pp.
410-437
Žižek, Slavoj, "In His Bold Gaze My Ruin Writ Large" in The Horror Reader, ed. Geldor,
Ken, (Routledge, 2000), pp. 71-77

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