In 1935 Egas Moniz, renowned Portuguese neurologist, visit psychiatrist Sobral Cid in order to persuade him allow his patients to be act as subjects for Moniz's experiemntal treatment - frontal leucotomy. After some resistance Cid agrees. The first such operation is staged, but Moniz's exhaltation is cut short by an attempt on his life. This self-contained chamber opera is actually scene 7 from a longer opera of the same name that tells three stories from the history of 20th century brain science (rather than a screenplay we worked with a libretto). it was filmed very quickly with little resources and involved professional and non-professional cast & crew.
The music is by Stephen Brown.
https://www.brainlandtheopera.co.uk/
Review by Victoria Angelique:
The historical short film, BRAINLAND, is a creative way to depict a scientific study that started the impact of music on individuals suffering from mental illnesses. Neurologist Egas Montiz has his story told through the use of music, as not one word of dialogue is spoken but sung in a high frequency tone of opera.
The operatic lyrics give the impression that even through disagreements between Montiz and the psychologist, it's important to use music in order to impact the study. This is a rare time where a musical makes sense for the characters to sing, rather than just making an operatic film where the audience has to submerge themselves into a world other than our own. The use of a high frequency tone, such as opera, is believed to heal the mind and soul. The film depicts how controversial this idea was when the experiment first began to use music on psychiatric patients.
The use of one room, a surgical theater, depicts the control that Montiz implemented on the patients. It allows for tall shadows to dance on the walls, giving an eerie feeling that something is going to go wrong. The dark yellow color contrasts against the white wardrobe and surgical blood. The only question left unanswered is, how did a patient get a gun into the controlled setting as a psychiatric patient that is implied to have been institutionalized.
BRAINLAND, directed by Chiara D'Anna, is a cinematic masterpiece that goes to a moment in history that depicts the neurological study of music on the mentally ill that the 1949 Nobel Prize Winner for Medicine, Egan Montiz, conducted in 1935. He survived being shot by a patient and the impacts of his study continue to be utilized in modern medicine.
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