CATTIVA aka THE WICKED (1991) is a dramatic intriguing story of a beautiful woman who is suffering from mental disorders and she is entrusted by her husband to the care of professor Brockener, a famous psychiatrist in a Swiss hospital. The entire story, a genuine psychological detective tale, deals with the attempt by the young doctor Gustav Jung (Julian Sands) to discover the root cause for the persistent mental disorder of Emilia Schmidt (Giuliana De Sio), a young woman who has recently suffered the death of her daughter. In Switzerland, at the beginning of the twentieth century, the young lady Emily Schmidt, of Italian origin, leads with her husband and her young son, Ludwig, a wealthy existence, apparently calm, but sometimes she gives some unexpected sign of imbalance. Because of her behavior, sudden temper tantrum, food refusal, determined silence, she is so called "wicked" (cattiva). In the luxury clinic in Zurich she is diagnosed as schizophrenic. Despite professor Brokener strong opposition and the resistance of the clinic's staff to the use of Freudian methods, doctor Gustav Jung, one of the young doctors of Brockener's team, begins his analysis at the clinic, but finds that he must travel to Italy to interview the woman's family and friends in order to unveil the ultimate cause. Gustav tries to unravel the web of fear and pain that envelops the young lady. The alarming deterioration of Emilia induces Professor Brockener to allow Gustav to try the new therapy, which gives unexpected results: Emily is recovering and can leave the clinic, not completely healed, but released from her neuroses and very trustful in the promise of Gustav willing to taking care of her in the future. As reported by Giuliana de Sio, some scenes in the final cut were results of improvisation by de Sio herself - in particular the scene where she screams and cry on the bed in the mental hospital. Stunning interpretation of Giuliana De Sio in the part of Emilia (tailor-made for her), for which she received the David di Donatello Award for Best Actress in 1992. Well-balanced screenplay by Francesca Archibugi, with the decisive contribution of the expert Furio Scarpelli. Very effective, the compact direction by Carlo Lizzani. A version of this film capably dubbed into English was released at the same time as its Italian-language version. From "Memories, Dreams and Reflections" by Carl Gustav Jung, it is the first film dedicated to the great Swiss psychoanalyst. In the scenes make their appearance three characters, the patient's mother and sisters and the therapist girlfriend, that were not in the text of Jung. The much historical valuable information on the beginnings of psychoanalysis and treatment of hysteria in the early twentieth century are very precious. The movie, shot with an extreme attention to the original environment, after many years preserved intact its absolute historical value. |
