Mesmer (Unrated Director's Cut)
by Roger Spottiswoode
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Alan Rickman, Amanda Ooms, Anna Thalbach, Donal Donnelly, Peter DvorskyDirector: Roger Spottiswoode
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Color, Director's Cut, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 109 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-05-23
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Image Entertainment
Movie Reviews of Mesmer (Unrated Director's Cut)
Movie Review: "Prepare" to be MESMERized!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have read other review on this board regarding this movie, and I saw a common theme of person's saying that the film was a bit hard to follow, even thought they liked it as a whole. I did not find the story difficult, but I did do some research prior to watching it. I did some reference work through my university, but also on something as accessible as wikipedia. If you look there, it gives you a lucid, coherent outline of Mesmer and his research, aw well as his methods of practice. If you gain a little background , then this movie flows beautifully!
I found this movie to be amazingly filmed, and the acting, especially by Rickman was superb. I cannot think of another actor who can draw your attention and hold it without even having to speak, and then when he does, there is no other voice like it - silky, melodic, and can touch your very soul. Rickman himself is 'mesmerizing.'
The sets and scenes shot for this film are breathtaking, and I believe that this film will captivate anyone who is fascinated in the rise of reason that was taking place in Europe during the 1600s-1700s. What you begin to realize is that Mesmer had truly discovered the power of magnetism, and its potential healing properties on the body. Sadly, this radicalism of thought was in its infancy, and therefore ultimately led to his undoing in a time of bloodletting. This film helps the viewer to see that despite the Enlightenment, there was still a profoundly medieval consensus of thought running through the scientific and medical worlds. The men who spoke of superstition and foolhardy practices being rooted out of their practice could not let go of antiquated harmful treatments themselves. They called Mesmer a charlatan and a fraud because his form of treatment was so unconventional and "perverse" to them, and yet when you see the forms of treatment that the conventional physicans were using at the time, you see the absurdity of their accusations.
I highly reccommend this film. It is beautiful, it is wonderfully acted, and touching. It is also a profoundly enjoyable film that can be watched again and again. I do reccommend though, that you do a bit of research to acquaint yourself with Mesmer. This will help put the film into perspective. It will also make you realize and appreciate what an amazing job Alan Rickman did in portraying this man!
Summary of Mesmer (Unrated Director's Cut)
Charlatan, fraud...or genius? To some he was a wizard, a miracle man; to others he was a charlatan and a fraud. His theories of hypnotism were revolutionary, but he was reviled by his contemporaries and exiled from his native Vienna. He became the toast of Paris, a visionary, a Svengali--and the disgrace of the medical profession. He was Franz Anton Mesmer and this was eighteenth century Vienna. Written by Dennis Potter (Pennies from Heaven).Art House & International DVD Video
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