We started the film series, Psyche Goes to the Movies yesterday by showing Don Juan De Marco. And it was a good beginning -- 24 people showed up, we had a good discussion and now to discuss it some more here.
I really enjoy this film. This is the third time I have seen it, though not for a number of years. Johnny Depp, Marlon Brando and Faye Dunaway all bring wonderful life to their characters. If you haven't yet viewed the film, I recommend doing so.
I enjoy the split we get to see between the biobehavioral model and psychosocial model in the staff of the hospital where Don Juan ends up. On the one hand most of the staff wants him medicated quickly and they believe he will end up a long term hospital patient. Dr. Mickler however wants to get to know him and see if he can discover why this young man has adopted the identity of Don Juan. This split was still relatively new when the film was released in 1994. We wouldn't se such a debate taking place at a staffing conference today nor would the initial involuntary hold be for 10 days.
Several other points that struck me:
We see in action here the notion Jung had that patient and therapist act on each other.
Don Juan has a youthful zest and romanticism that Dr. Mickler has lost and conversely, Mickler is better able to navigate the world than is Don Juan. In the process of their short time working together, we see them changing each other. There is a point even when Don Juan identifies the patient in Mickler -- a lovely moment illustrating this process.
I have seen Don Juan of this movie diagnosed as manic-depressive. But I would suggest that it is difficult even to establish him as psychotic because he is in fact oriented to time place and setting and is quite aware of what is happening. What we see is a young man who adapted the identity of Don Juan for himself in order to make some life following a series of terrible blows to him -- the death of his father, the loss of his mother and rejection by his fantasy love object. It is a detailed fantasy and a creative one, but it also works for him and gets him to where he needs to be. Do note that he cooperates with Mickler when he shows up.
Mickler wisely does not tackle the fantasy/delusion head-on, knowing that it would be fruitless to do so. So he steps into it a bit agreeing to be Don Octavio and thus is able to finally learn why the fantasy/delusion came into being in the first place.
So -- what do you all think? What did you notice?