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Girl, Interrupted
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	James Mangold
Produced by	Douglas Wick Winona Ryder
Written by	Susanna Kaysen James Mangold Lisa Loomer
Starring	Winona Ryder Angelina Jolie Clea DuVall Brittany Murphy Elisabeth Moss Jared Leto
Music by	Mychael Danna
Cinematography	Jack N. Green
Editing by	Kevin Tent
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	January 14, 2000
Running time	127 min.
Country
Language	English
Budget	$24 million
Gross revenue	$28,871,190
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Girl, Interrupted is a 1999 drama film about a woman's 18-month stay at a mental institution, starring Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie. It was adapted from the original memoir Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen and directed by James Mangold. The screenplay was written by James Mangold and Lisa Loomer. The original music score was composed by Mychael Danna. The film is rated R by the MPAA, for strong language and content relating to drugs, sexuality, and suicide.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Author opinion 4 Awards 5 Filming 6 Soundtrack 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

Susanna Kaysen, eighteen years old in April of 1967, voluntarily checks herself into the fictitious Claymoore Hospital (based on McLean Hospital, the actual institution featured in the memoir), after an attempted suicide. Kaysen is diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, and her stay extends two years.

She befriends fellow patients Polly Clark, Lisa Rowe, Georgina Tuskin, Daisy Randone, and others, and forms a small troupe of troubled women in her ward. Susanna is enchanted in particular by the unruly Lisa, who encourages her to stop taking her medications and generally resist the influences of therapy.

Time passes, and a night comes when Polly awakes screaming "My face, my face!" The nurses remove her and place her into solitary confinement with the intention of calming her down, but she continues sobbing. Troubled, Susanna (with the help of Lisa's keys) steals a guitar and they sit outside Polly's room, singing. Eventually, staff members notice. When an orderly (Susanna's friend) walks by, she pulls him to the ground and kisses him.

The next morning, Susanna is called into the office, where she is analyzed once more. Lisa is moved to another ward, as is the orderly.

Lisa and Susanna break out of Claymoore with the intention of going to work in Disney World, (which did not open to the public until 1971). They spend the night at the house of the recently released Daisy, who kills herself the next morning after Lisa antagonizes her. Lisa runs away, while Susanna calls the police and returns to the hospital. In the next few weeks, she begins to cooperate with her doctor and the therapy seems to be helping. She is scheduled to be released.

However, Lisa eventually returns after overdosing on drugs and, upon finding out about Susanna's pending release, develops a vendetta against Susanna. On her last night, Susanna awakes to discover Lisa reading her diary to the other girls. In the ensuing dispute, Lisa threatens to kill Susanna, but in the process Susanna launches a pointed verbal attack upon her, calling her "dead". Lisa undergoes a mental breakdown. Susanna is released the next day.

At the end of the film, Susanna states that by the 1970s, most of her friends were released; it is left unclear whether this includes Lisa.

The film was shot at various locations in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, especially Harrisburg State Hospital in settings meant to resemble those of the grounds of McLean. ^[1]

• Winona Ryder as Susanna Kaysen
• Angelina Jolie as Lisa Rowe
• Clea DuVall as Georgina Tuskin
• Brittany Murphy as Daisy Randome
• Elisabeth Moss as Polly "Torch" Clark
• Jared Leto as Tobias "Toby" Jacobs
• Jeffrey Tambor as Dr. Melvin Potts
• Vanessa Redgrave as Dr. Sonia Wick
• Whoopi Goldberg as Valerie Owens, RN
• Angela Bettis as Janet Webber
• Jillian Armenante as Cynthia Crowley
• Joanna Kerns as Annette Kaysen
• Bruce Altman as Prof. Gilcrest
• Mary Kay Place as Barbara Gilcrest
• Ray Baker as Carl Kaysen
• KaDee Strickland as Bonnie Gilcrest
• Kurtwood Smith as Dr. Crumble

The author, Susanna Kaysen, was among the detractors of the film, angered by the "melodramatic drivel" Mangold used with the script by conjuring up many stories that never happened in the book (such as Lisa and Susanna running away together). ^[2]

• Academy Awards
  • Best Actress in a Supporting Role - Angelina Jolie
• Golden Globe Award
  • Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture - Angelina Jolie - "Lisa Rowe"
• Screen Actors Guild Award
  • Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role - Angelina Jolie

Filming took place along Main Street in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, as well as in Harrisburg State Hospital in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Mechanicsburg was chosen for its old fashioned appearance and its old style drug store simply titled "Drugs," all of which gave the film its time-dated appearance.

1. Merrilee Rush performing "Angel of the Morning"
2. Petula Clark performing "Downtown"
3. Skeeter Davis performing "The End of the World"
4. Aretha Franklin performing "The Right Time"
5. Jefferson Airplane performing "Comin' Back to Me"
6. Them performing "It's All Over Now Baby Blue"
7. Chambers Brothers performing "Time Has Come Today'"
8. The Band performing "The Weight"
9. The Mamas & The Papas performing "Got a Feeling"
10. Wilco performing "How To Fight Loneliness"
11. Simon & Garfunkel performing "Bookends Theme"

• Borderline personality disorder
• Personality disorder

• Girl, Interrupted at the Internet Movie Database
• Girl, Interrupted at All Movie Guide
• Girl, Interrupted at Rotten Tomatoes