Published in the PANY Bulletin 46:3; Fall, 2008

In the Summer issue of the PANY Bulletin and in InternationalPsychoanalysis in September, I wrote about the film, The Prestige, focusing on the issue of twinship dynamics in memory of Jules Glenn, who had a particular interest in twins. In that article, I pointed out that the director of The Prestige, Christopher Nolan, was not, to my knowledge, a twin, but did co-write the script for the film with his younger brother, Jonathan. The next film Nolan directed, also co-written with his brother, was The Dark Knight, making this film review a sequel.

Continue reading Twins of “The Dark Knight”

Click Here To Read: Commentary of Richard M. Gottlieb at the Panel Discussion of The Trials of J. Robert Oppenheimer, a new film by David Grubin.  The film was previewed at the N Y Psychoanalytic Institute January 13, 2009. Moderator: Fred M. Sander. Panelists: David Grubin, Martin Sherwin, Richard M. Gottlieb.

J. Robert Oppenheimer

Click Here To Read: ‘Somebody: The Reckless Life and Remarkable Career of Marlon Brando’ By Stefan Kanfer in The New York Times on January 2, 2009 .

Click Here to Read: Cimema Militans by George Skluzier, a talk given at the Dutch Film Festival.

If they can show it every Christmas, I can post it every Christmas.

This time, I’ve made an addition at the end, including a note about the film’s personal meaning for me.

I had never heard of It’s a Wonderful Life  until one winter night in the early eighties.  I was feeling out of sorts.  I don’t remember the particular details but I know that I was feeling down, unfulfilled, frustrated, disappointed, perhaps lonely, unconfident, worried and otherwise unhappy.  Those who have never felt that way need not read on.  That night, I felt that there was only one thing I could do—turn on the television.  I happened onto a quaint looking black and white film that begins with a discussion in heaven about the assignment of a guardian angel to a man who was in a similar mood to my own.  As I watched and became increasingly involved, my perspective changed so that when the film was over, I had tears in my eyes and felt much better about myself.

  Continue reading It’s a Wonderful Life, With an Added Personal Note

Click Here to Read: Introduction – Psychoanalysis in/and/of the Horror Film by Steven Jay Schneider.

 This is an excerpt from the Introduction to Freud’s Worst Nightmares, expected to be published by Cambridge University Press as part of their “Studies in Film” Series. For more information, contact William Rothman or Steven Jay Schneider.

Click Here To Read: The Parted Eye: Spellbound and Psychoanalysis by David Boyd.  

This paper was presented at the Alfred Hitchcock conference For the Love of Fear convened by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, held from 31 March to 2 April 2000.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Over the past three months, I have posted articles on unconscious dynamics of sibling relationships in films. In this post, I’ll expand the field and discuss a trilogy that plays upon the dynamics of friendships and their interaction with family dynamics “post Oedipally.” My subject is the original Star Wars trilogy from the ’70’s and ’80’s.

Continue reading Oedipal and Latency Dynamics in the Original Star Wars Trilogy