Asylum [DVD]

ok the sexiest sexy scene I have ever experienced. Be warned, after the great sex in the Green House, nothing really good ever happens to them again. the meaning of the title, I think, is both the asylum given - and lost - by love, as well as the obvious physical location of the story.The disturbing and fatally sad character, defly portrayed by the late Natasha Richardson, is unforgettable to me. And with the odd and beautiful physicality of Marton Csokas, whose body seems both unpleasantly unused and so not quite fitting him well until he actually starts to break and then his body seems to fit him, it is a good film to watch a few times, if you cant take the depressing manner in which they must carry out thier awful lives. As a severley dangerous mentally ill man who is both innocent and wildly seductive, Csokas watches the wife of the new ambitious psychiatrist at a dower and discouraging mental hospital in the dour and discouraging Great Britain of the 1950's. the patient is loved and coveted by his gay doctor, a sadistic and manipulative queen, perfectly at home in the decaying environment of the hospital. His horrific conspiracy to overtakeand control the life of his patient by overtaking and controlling the woman he loves is disturbing. the end of the movieis a bit of a let down, but just a bit.finally, Csokas portrayal of a dangerous psyhotic man is spot on. his loss of small abilities to control his thinking, as the normal day to dayfalls away and clearly little food is being eaten, little regard for safety or grooming, is really tells the tale of the disinegration of what littlenormalcy they had -albeit wild ones- when they first started their wild and illicit affair.Natasha, too, shows us a woman out of control of any aspect of her life, no matter who she is with. total emotional suppression or extreme extroverted sexual display, she is a woman in pain and in danger. The actress is beautiful, physically, in this role, the perfect face, both surprized at herself and horrified and hungry all at once.the meloncoly musical theme, with an oboe, a repeated phrase that is not particularly lusty, adds to the odd normalcy of obsession.

There have been many films titled 'Asylum' over the years. At least one I can think of was pretty good. The 1972 film with Peter Cushing. Last night we watched one with that name from 2005 starring Natasha Richardson and Ian McKellen. It was listed as a 'Horror' film at Amazon Prime Videos and had a high rating. I would consider it more a steamy psychological drama than horror. As might be expected by the names involved it was well acted. The settings and visuals were well done too. The first one third of the film was promising. It's the story of a psychiatrist named Max that comes to work in a new position at large asylum for the mentally disturbed including the criminally insane. He brings along his seemingly bored wife Stella (played by the late Natasha Richardson) and young son. Ian McKellen plays Dr. Cleave, a long time doctor there that felt he deserved the position that Max was given. The wife (Natasha Richardson) soon falls for one of the inmates, Edgar. Edgar is a man who was found guilty in the murder and disfigurement of his former wife. Yes, what woman could resist such a tempting bad boy like Edgar, geesh. Soon Stella and Edgar begin an unlikely steamy love affair right under the nose of her husband, the guards and everyone else at the Asylum. This place has some security. They have steamy love making encounters right on the asylum grounds in places where he is doing jobs as a trusted inmate. Sometimes they just miss being caught on the grounds by a guard coming to check on him. It all becomes rather laughable the chances the wife takes. Still the first third of the film is intriguing and makes you wonder where it will all lead. Is Ian McKellen's character some how a part of all this? What part does he play in what's to come? Unfortunately the story soon turns into one where you do not care about a single character in the film with the exception of the little boy. The inmate soon easily escapes when he realizes he will not be released anytime in the near future. The wife finds shopping excursion excuses to go weekly into the city where she joins him at his hide out. Eventually Stella leaves her husband to be with Edgar, even though he is now jealous of her talking to other men and beats her regularly. The story goes even further downhill from there dragging on with more depressing and irritating developments. Finally at the depressing end we found ourselves asking ourselves why they turned such a promising drama into such a total mess. Don't bother watching this film unless you like depressing pointless movies with characters you eventually don't care about. I give this a 2 out of 5 rating for the acting.

I finished 'Asylum' the book by Patrick McGrath which this movie is based on yesterday and I gave the book 2 stars. I don't feel the subject of infidelity a pleasant read. When I first got a hold of the book I was excited...Goodreads described it as a Gothic, Horror, Mystery. Normally I find movie adaptations of books I read tolerable...all the way to this was awesome. For a book that I didn't really like, I felt this movie was even worse. The whole movie is rushed. As a viewer with no knowledge of the book and the backstory to these characters you can not decipher what is going on.I hated Stella's character I felt she was a horrible mother. I couldn't fathom taking such risks with a child at home. Yes by all means be a tramp on your own time, but not when there is a small one depending on you. This movie paints Stella to be a star crossed lover. In the book though she not only lets her sexual hunger out to Edgar, but to several men. Which made me hate her even more.The ending is changed in the movie, not sure if that makes it more dramatic...it definitely makes Peter out to be more sinister. I did find his character strange and thought he helped to drive Stella into this whole scenario, but I didn't think his character was as bad as the movie made him out to be.If you hated this movie but want to know what actually went on I'd read the book. Even though I didn't like the subject matter of the book it was a fast read. I think the director did a very poor job of translating this movie from the book.

Set in an old Victorian asylum,bored and ignored by her patronising husband ,Stella played excellently by Natasha Richardson embarks on a passionate, erotic affair with Edgar,one of the patients.The acting by all is first class.The story is about desperate love,edgar escapes and flees to london and stella leaves her children to be with him.However Edgar is mentally ill and has a dark past.Ian Mckellan one of the doctors at the asylum,seems obsessed with stella himself,and when Edgar is caught takes control of both their lives.A tragic tale,beautifully portrayed.

Films tend not to be as good as the book they re based on and this is no exception. In the book the main character is actually Dr Cleave as he is the narrator and we see things from his perspective / imagination of events. the film simply portrays a simple storyline.Having said that it is still a good story and acted well, but the characters were not that well developed. I would urge people to read the book which is excellent and includes episodes that were omitted from the film.

Although this film follows the book fairly closely, except at the end, its atmosphere is really completely different. Natasha Richardson is more beautiful, less fleshy and blowsy than her character in the book, and this produces a different dynamic. Does not satisfactorily convey how awful things were in Wales. But still engrossing and produces a satisfactory shock at the end

Bought this for my mum and she loves it.

Very good.