Does cinema heal? We figure out how with the help of films with meaning you can not only have an interesting time, but also carefully understand yourself and your emotions.
Film therapy is a gentle and therapeutic effect on our emotional state. Anxiety for the future, problems and fears — all these are eternal topics touched upon by great directors more than a dozen times. Film therapy began to be actively developed in the second half of the last century. One of the pioneers, psychologist Gary Solomon, compared films to «healing tools» and called the whole process a «healing journey.»
Often we consciously or unconsciously associate ourselves with screen characters. Any plot demonstrates how the characters get into a crisis situation and look for a way out of it. Our emotional reactions to this show a personal path to complexes and traumas, and analysis and reflection of what we see helps us look at our own behavior from the outside.
Who benefits from it
Film reflection becomes a powerful tool for self-development when we have accumulated emotional problems, but there is no readiness for individual psychotherapy and direct work with «inner demons». Regular and systematic film therapy provides gradual emotional maturation and personal growth through the study of emotional responses to films.
An adult’s feeling of being lost in the world is one of the indicators of a state that is important to work with. Such work can take place both in individual and in pair and group format. Practicing together is also a great way to set up with a partner and strengthen the relationship. We get to know the inner world of a loved one better through his perception of different movie plots.
How to choose a movie
Within the framework of independent film therapy, the choice is made simply — according to the topics formed by any online cinema or streaming video services. Although it’s easy to write a topic of interest to a search engine (“movies about mother-daughter relationships,” “movies about marriage crisis,” and so on), choosing the right one from a huge list is already a big task. It is worth relying on the preferred genre, cast and author. For someone it is important to look at the rating of the film, prizes and nominations. Therapeutic stories come across among different genres, but most often they are dramas and melodramas.
Within film therapy there are the most common themes. These are the issues that concern most of us: parent-child relationships (both with natural and adopted children, adolescents), sibling bonds, love unions (interaction at all stages of relationships), personal development (coaching), growing up and responsibility, crises of meaning, depressive states…
Right start
The first parting word sounds like this: it is important to focus on personal problems and consider what will allow you to open up, support you on the path to happiness. Films are created by people just like us, relying on the baggage of their own and other people’s knowledge and stories. This is what helps us, looking at their heroes, to change our own lives.
It is necessary to clearly articulate the problem with which you want to work as a couple, family or individually. In a comfortable environment after watching the movie carefully, it is important to discuss (only voluntarily) or answer questions on your own.
What do you remember from the movie?
What emotions did he evoke?
What made the biggest impression and why?
Behind any vivid reactions, our repressed experiences or aspects of personality can be hidden. Therefore, special attention should be paid to the main characters: analyze the feelings, thoughts and reactions that their actions caused in us.
Usually, while watching, a person merges with one of the characters if his mood or situation is close to him. An analysis of the behavior and actions of the hero helps to look at your own life from a different perspective. It is also necessary to express a list of feelings and problems that the film has revealed in our minds.
Don’t be afraid to try film therapy without a psychologist. You can think about everything through the prism of personal views. But if questions and doubts remain, whether you understood everything correctly and drew conclusions regarding your situation, then you should turn to the help of a professional. It will help you see which elements of the film your subconscious mind has deliberately ousted from the field of perception.
One movie example
Anxiety about your life and future is an absolutely normal and familiar phenomenon that we can work through. Let’s look at this in the movie The Pursuit of Happyness (directed by Gabriele Muccino, 2006).
How does the film begin and what does the director want to tell us with these shots? The protagonist Chris Gardner is an adult man who rushes from the state of an adult to the state of a child. He believes that dedication to one cause will surely lead to success.
What characteristics does it have and what does it lead to? Constantly late, does not pay fines, taxes, rent an apartment. As a result, he ends up in prison, evicted from the apartment and then from the hotel. And it seems that a good person is catastrophically unlucky. Is it so?
Does he finish what he started? What does he hope for when he breaks the law?
Why didn’t the hero succeed before the start of his brokerage career? Why did he become a loser, got into debt?
He is a smart man with developed communication skills. What gave him the strength not to break? Son and faith in the best? It is important to note here that Chris never lashes out at the child, does not complain and calmly solves difficulties. From here, we can also look at a common problem: how often do we see people give up halfway? When everything falls apart, what motivates us?
Gardner’s infantilism disappears after he sinks to the very «bottom» and lives with his son in a rooming house. This is the critical point — he takes responsibility for his life. No wonder the film is called «The Pursuit of Happyness» and shows the eternal themes — family, parenthood, career. Happiness here is the awareness of adulthood and responsibility, the willingness to accept challenges from an unpredictable life. Chris shares with us invaluable experience on how to withstand all the vicissitudes of fate without panic and blaming others for their problems.
I offer three more cult films for self-analysis:
«Life is Beautiful» (directed by Roberto Benigni, 1997)
On the Edge (Director Lee Tamahori, 1997)
The Lion King (Directed by Jon Favreau, 2019)