The Night of the Hunter with Leon Balter at NYPSI

CELEBRATING A CENTURY OF ADVANCEMENT THROUGH SELF-KNOWLEDGE
THE NEW YORK PSYCHOANALYTIC SOCIETY & INSTITUTE:
THE FRIENDS OF THE A. A. BRILL LIBRARY
247 East 82nd St., between 2nd & 3rd, NY, NY, 10028
212-879-6900
www.psychoanalysis.org

Friday, May 18, 2012, 7 pm, $10 Suggested Donation
Presents a screening of  The Night of the Hunter
followed by a psychoanalytic discussion with Leon Balter, M.D.

When The Night of the Hunter was released in 1955, it was met by the critics and the public with bewilderment and confusion. And, of course, it was a financial failure. It was the first and last film directed by the distinguished and celebrated English actor Charles Laughton. The film rapidly became a “cult classic.” And, since 1955, it has garnered a slow and progressive appreciation by film critics. It is currently always ranked among the 100 best films ever made. Laughton didn’t live to see its re-appraisal.

The reason for this strange history is that Laughton eschewed conventional film narrative. The film, as presented, is the subjective mentality of a ten year old boy. It does not present (as usual) an adult’s empathic view of the boy, but rather the boy’s actual perceptions and apperceptions of the world around him. That is the film. It took years for the critics and the public to understand this. The boy’s story is of traumatic destruction of his family during the Great Depression and the menace of a psychopathic killer.

The killer is played by Robert Mitchum. It is one of the two roles where he, the laziest actor in Hollywood, actually acts. (The other role is also of a psychopathic killer, in Cape Fear.) As a report goes: “Laughton approached Robert Mitchum. ‘Mitchum,’ he told him, ‘I’m directing this film, and there’s a character in it who is a diabolical shit.’ ‘Present,’ replied Mitchum.” (Callow, 2000) It was the most remarkable performance of Mitchum’s career, objectively and by his own account. “I didn’t know I could be so good,” he said after throwing up while watching himself in the rushes. (Jones, 2002)

The screen credit for the script went to the famous writer James Agee. In fact, Agee wrote a first draft that was enormous and unusable. It was based on the novel of the same name by Davis Grubb (1953). Laughton edited Agee’s script down to size. What was left comes virtually verbatim from the novel. Grubb wrote from a canny psychoanalytic perspective. (He was in psychotherapy at the time.) Laughton, in his directing, amplified this psychoanalytic orientation spectacularly. The Night of the Hunter is one of those rare instances where the film is greater than the novel from which it derives.

Dr. Balter is a Training and Supervising Analyst at NYPSI and an Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine.

Reservations Strongly Suggested as Seating is Limited

For Tickets & Info: admdir@nypsi.org

The Friends of the Library need your help. Those wishing to contribute please make checks payable to NYPSI (memo: Friends of the Library).

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education through the joint sponsorship of the American Psychoanalytic Association and the New York Psychoanalytic Society and Institute. The American Psychoanalytic Association is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The American Psychoanalytic Association designates this Live Activity for a maximum of [3] AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

IMPORTANT DISCLOSURE INFORMATION FOR ALL LEARNERS: None of the planners and presenters of this CME program have any relevant financial relationships to disclose.

For information about NYPSI training programs please visit us at

www.psychoanalysis.org

Follow NYPSI on Twitter

 Follow NYPSI on Facebook

 Follow NYPSI on YouTube

 Follow NYPSI on LinkedIn