This article is about the 1980 film. For other uses, see Bad Timing (disambiguation).

Bad Timing

Theatrical release poster

Directed by Nicolas Roeg

Produced by Jeremy Thomas

Written by Yale Udoff

Starring Art Garfunkel

Theresa Russell
Harvey Keitel
Denholm Elliott
Daniel Massey

Music by Richard Hartley

Cinematography Anthony B. Richmond

 Editing by Tony Lawson

Distributed by Rank Organisation (UK)

Release date(s) September 12, 1980 (Toronto Film

Festival)

Running time 122 Minutes

Uncut Restored Version

Country United Kingdom

Language English

Bad Timing is a 1980 British film directed by Nicolas Roeg, produced by Jeremy
Thomas.

Contents
[hide]

• 1 Storyline
• 2 Critical
reaction
• 3 Featured cast
• 4 Legacy
• 5 References

• 6 External
links

[edit]Storyline

In Vienna, a young American woman in her twenties (Russell) is rushed to the

emergency room after apparently overdosing. With her is Alex Linden, an American
psychiatrist (Garfunkel) teaching in Vienna. Through a series of
fragment flashbacks the film tells the story of their romance, which ends up
becoming a sexual obsession. The woman, Milena, suffers from depression and is
still married to a much older man (Elliott) whom she crosses the border to see at
times. Linden likes her free spirited ways at first, then grows tired of her lifestyle,
which includes relationships with other men and heavy drinking. He spies on Milena
and eventually tries to control her. At the hospital, an investigator (Keitel) realises
that there may be more to the case than a simple suicide attempt. He investigates
and tries to get Linden to confess to possible crimes involved with the case.

[edit]Critical reaction
The film received mixed reviews. Some found the film brilliant while others found the
film tasteless. Its UK distributor, Rank, were appalled by what they saw, one
executive calling it "a sick film made by sick people for sick people."[1] In response,
they removed the Rank logo from all UK prints of the film. John Coleman in The
New Statesman gave it a very bad review ".[2][it has] an overall style which plays
merry hell with chronology"
The film received the Toronto Film Festival's highest honour, the People's Choice
Award, in 1980 and the London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director.

[edit]Featured cast
 Art Garfunkel as Alex Linden
 Theresa Russell as Milena Flaherty
 Harvey Keitel as Inspector Netusil
 Denholm Elliott as Stefan Vognic
 Daniel Massey as Foppish Man

The setting is Vienna, Austria. The film tries to explain, with a serie
of flashbacks, why Milena Flaherty has been brought to the city
hospital in an advanced coma after a suicide attempt. A few months
ago, she left her Czech husband and came to the Austrian capital
city. There, she met Dr. Alex Linden, an american psychiatrist. They
start a love affair. After a few weeks, Linden begins not to
appreciate so well Milena's peculiar way of life. She continues to see
her precedent boyfriends and doesn't want to talk about them.
Linden becomes more and more jealous and uses all his
psychological skill to make Milena feel guilty. Soon, the young
woman doesn't know anymore how to handle this love relation and
starts to drink too much. After a violet quarrel, she swallows a box
of sleeping pills and calls Linden for help
Art Garfunkel - Dr. Alex Linden
Theresa Russell - Milena Flaherty
Harvey Keitel - Insp. Netusil
Denholm Elliott - Stefan Vognic
Daniel Massey - Fop
Dana Gillespie - Amy
Chris Cooper
Sevilia Delofski - Receptionist
Stefan Gryff - Policeman #2
William Hootkins - Col. Taylor
Gertan Klauber - Ambulance Man
Eugene Lipinski - Policeman
Ania Marson - Dr. Schneider
George Roubicek - Policeman #1
Lex Van Delden - Young Doctor
Robert Walker, Jr. - Konrad
Psychiatrist Alex (Art Garfunkel) becomes sexually obsessed with Milena
(Theresa Russell), a woman whom he meets at a party. The pair become
involved in an intense and mutually destructive love affair. The drama unfolds in
a series of flashbacks, as Alex tells his story to police Inspector Netusil (Harvey
Keitel) who is investigating Milena's apparent suicide attempt. Alex's obsession
grows, but Milena stays slightly out of reach. Originally rated X, but somewhat
toned down to accommodate an R rating, Bad Timing: A Sensual Obsession is
an interesting exploration of the nature of sexual passion and jealousy. ~ Linda
Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

Review
One of director Nicolas Roeg's most erotic projects was this film about an
American divorcee (Teresa Russell) who has an affair with a psychoanalyst in
Vienna. The director's arresting visual techniques -- as well as impressive
background music from The Who, Keith Jarrett, and Billie Holiday -- add to the
claustrophobic, sexually charged atmosphere. Roeg plays with the audience's
expectations to deliver a devastating denoument. Bad Timingperformed poorly
at the box office and divided critics, depending on their appreciation of Roeg's
unorthodox techniques. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

Cast
• Art Garfunkel - Dr. Alex Linden
• Theresa Russell - Milena Flaherty
• Harvey Keitel - Insp. Netusil
• Denholm Elliott - Stefan Vognic
• Daniel Massey – Fop

he Story

Alex, a stuffy college professor in Vienna, calls an ambulance one night to

the apartment of his mistress Milena, who has OD’d. Milena undergoes
an emergency tracheotomy to save her life and Alex is interrogated
relentlessly by an English detective curious about what transpired
before the ambulance was called.

Flashbacks reveal Alex and Milena’s courtship, which from the start was based
entirely on sexual obsession. The two are otherwise fundamentally incompatible;
Alex feebly attempts to intellectualize his obsession while Milena tries to break away.
Her flighty behavior only leads to increasing physical abuse by Alex until the final,
fateful night, when Alex rushes to Milena’s apartment to find her zonked out on God-
knows-what and rapes her comatose body. Months later, he catches a glimpse of
Milena standing on the steps of a NYC hotel, bearing a telltale tracheotomy scar on
her neck.

Hackman plays a New York professor who wants a change in his life, and plans to
get married to his girlfriend and move to California. His mother understands his need
to get away, but warns him that moving so far away could be hard on his father. Just
before the wedding, the mother dies. Hackman's sister (who has been disowned by
their father for marrying a Jewish man) advises him to live his own life, and not let
himself be controlled by their father.

I Never Sang for My Father

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I Never Sang for My Father

film poster

Directed by Gilbert Cates

Produced by Gilbert Cates

Written by Robert Anderson

Starring Gene Hackman

Melvyn Douglas
Dorothy Stickney
Estelle Parsons

Cinematography Morris Hartzband

George Stoetzel
 Distributed by Columbia Pictures

Release date(s) 1970

Running time 92 min

I Never Sang for My Father is a 1970 American film, based on a play by the same
name, which tells the story of a college professor who wants to get out from under
the thumb of his aging father yet still has regrets about his plan to leave him behind
when he marries a youngerwoman and moves to California. It stars Melvyn
Douglas, Gene Hackman, Dorothy Stickney,Estelle Parsons, Elizabeth
Hubbard, Lovelady Powell and Conrad Bain.
The movie was adapted by Robert Anderson from his play and directed by Gilbert
Cates.
It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Melvyn
Douglas), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Gene Hackman) and Best Writing,
Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.

[edit]Cast and characters

 Gene Hackman: Gene Garrison
 Melvyn Douglas: Tom Garrison
 Estelle Parsons: Alice
 Dorothy Stickney: Margaret Garrison
 Elizabeth Hubbard: Doctor Margaret 'Peggy' Thayer
 Lovelady Powell: Norma

Gene Garrison has a troubled relationship with his father, Tom. Tom
once had the picture perfect life, a great career as the company
president, happy wife and children and head citizen in a small town.
Throughout the years, Tom has become dependent and needy,
especially of Gene. Margaret, Gene's dying mother, believes that
her son should not be under Tom's wing and at the age of forty
four, should be able to live independently on his own without her
husband being demanding and controlling of their son's life.

Gene himself is doing quite well as a college professor and has plans
to wed a doctor named Dr. Margaret "Peggy" Thayer, who created a
pratice in California where the two wants to live. Mrs. Garrison gives
her ok but Tom is reculant to let his son go and live life on his own.
Gene's willful sister Alice has already broken free of their father
stubborn ways and disapproval of marrying someone else of a
different culture. Alice hopes that Gene will able to find strength to
stand up as a man and confront their father to remind him he is no
longer the young boy who caters to his father needs.

Prior to Gene's wedding, Margaret dies and expected, Gene is right

by his father's side, throughout his crabby days while suffering from
his dad own problems. Both Alice and Gene agree to hire a
housekeeper for their father, someone to keep him company but
Tom waves that idea off, Gene even thought of putting his father in
a nursery home, but realize he will hate the place. The only solution
Gene has is the words Alice once told him; live his life freely from
their father or else he will end up unpleasant and emotionally cold
as his father. For Gene it is hard to leave his father angry at him,
but at the same time if he stays, he will feel trapped.

Based on the play by Robert Anderson, I Never Sang for My Father is devoted to
the prickly relationship between aged Tom Garrison (Melvyn Douglas) and his
grown son Gene (Gene Hackman). A college professor who feels that he has
never been fully accepted by his self-made dad, Gene announces that he is
going to move from New York to marry a California divorcee. His mother
(Dorothy Stickney) approves of the union but worries that her son's move will
have a negative effect on the increasingly truculent Tom. When his mother dies
just before the wedding, Gene is forced to help his father through his dark days.
His sister (Estelle Parsons) urges her brother to break the ties for good and all--
or else he'll wind up as bitter and withdrawn as their father. Gene realizes the
wisdom of these words when he tries to reach out to his father during a
vulnerable moment, only to have the crabby Tom tell him to get lost and leave
him alone. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Somber family melodramas with children and parents trying to understand and
communicate with each other are a dime a dozen, unless you have a very
compelling script or some wonderful actors. I Never Sang For My Father doesn't
really have the former, but it makes up for it in spades on the latter. Gene
Hackman as the son and Melvyn Douglas as the father deliver powerful
performances as two barbed men trying to find each other amidst their own
frustration and depression. Hackman garnered his second Academy Award
nomination for his role (the first was forBonnie and Clyde in 1967, and the
following year he would win his first statuette for The French Connection).
Douglas never got the sort of roles in films that he probably deserved. He was
mostly known as a theater and then a television actor, and in fact he is one of
the few people to win an Oscar (for both 1964's Hud and 1980's Being There),
an Emmy, and a Tony Award. His career was also impaired by the anti-
Communist blacklist of the early '50s. The director, Gilbert Cates, had worked
largely in TV before this movie, and it shows -- in both the staged set-ups and
the relentlessly depressive tone. ~ Brendon Hanley, All Movie Guide

Cast
• Melvyn Douglas - Tom Garrison
• Gene Hackman - Gene Garrison
• Dorothy Stickney - Margaret Garrison
• Estelle Parsons - Alice
• Elizabeth Hubbard - Pegg

With an insane asylum standing in for everyday society, Milos Forman's 1975
film adaptation of Ken Kesey's novel is a comically sharp indictment of the
Establishment urge to conform. Playing crazy to avoid prison work detail, manic
free spirit Randle P. McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) is sent to the state mental
hospital for evaluation. There he encounters a motley crew of mostly voluntary
inmates, including cowed mama's boy Billy (Brad Dourif) and silent Native
American Chief Bromden (Will Sampson), presided over by the icy Nurse
Ratched (Louise Fletcher). Ratched and McMurphy recognize that each is the
other's worst enemy: an authority figure who equates sanity with correct
behavior, and a misfit who is charismatic enough to dismantle the system
simply by living as he pleases. McMurphy proceeds to instigate group
insurrections large and small, ranging from a restorative basketball game to an
unfettered afternoon boat trip and a tragic after-hours party with hookers and
booze. Nurse Ratched, however, has the machinery of power on her side to
ensure that McMurphy will not defeat her. Still, McMurphy's message to live free
or die is ultimately not lost on one inmate, revealing that escape is still possible
even from the most oppressive conditions. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

Review
Milos Forman had proven his talent for astute social comedy in such earlier
Czech films as Loves of a Blonde (1965) and The Firemen's Ball (1967), and his
adept treatment of Cuckoo's Nest's metaphorically loaded conflict fulfilled the
promise of an immigrant observer of American culture indicated in his first U.S.
feature, Taking Off (1971). Shot on location at the Oregon State Hospital, and
visually imprisoning the characters in tightly framed compositions, Haskell
Wexler's and Bill Butler's cinematography underlines the psychological as well
as physical confinement dogging the patients. The restrained, soft-spoken
control of Louise Fletcher as Nurse Ratched contrasts with the thoughtful vigor
of Jack Nicholson's McMurphy, further emphasizing both the need to revolt and
the difficulty in doing so posed by such consistent, quiet, internalized power. For
a culture battered by the chaotic rebellions of the late 1960s/early 1970s, and
the serial failures of institutional authority culminating in Watergate and the fall
of Saigon, Cuckoo's Nest's resigned yet hopeful portrayal of spirited non-
conformity touched a nerve, turning it into one of the most popular films of
1975. The independently produced film became only the second film in history
to sweep all five top Academy Awards, winning Best Picture for producers Saul
Zaentz and 31-year-old Michael Douglas, Best Director, Best Actor, Best
Actress, and Best Screenplay for Lawrence Hauben's and Bo Goldman's
adaptation of the Kesey novel. Shrewdly combining roustabout fervor and
humor with an acknowledgement of society's different limits, One Flew Over the
Cuckoo's Nest effectively communicated the disillusionment of the waning
counter-culture even as it optimistically asserted that one rebel could make a
difference. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

Cast
• Jack Nicholson - Randle Patrick McMurphy
• Louise Fletcher - Nurse Mildred Ratched
• William Redfield - Harding
• Dean R. Brooks - Dr. John Spivey
• Scatman Crothers - Turkle Crothers
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Sociological Analysis
Uploaded by JarJarBinks (201) on Jul 5, 2004

Sociological Analysis of the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

The movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is based on the experience of a criminal
that elected to move to a mental institution to avoid serving his time at a prison work
camp. The criminal, Randall P. McMurphy, or McMurphy, as the other inmates call him,
was under the impression that his sentence would be converted to the amount of time he
would need to spend in the institution. What he did not realize was that once he was
admitted to the institution, he would not be released until the medical staff felt he was
safe for society. McMurphy goes about living in the institution, and creates a society
among several of the patients, which has a large impact on the structure of the institution.
His relationships with the other patients in the ward develops into a society where
thoughts and opinions grow and interfere with the flow of the institution's rules and
regulations, and friction is made between the authorities and the patients.

McMurphy strives to overcome the head nurse, Nurse Ratchet, and finds himself
understanding the mentalities of the others in the ward. This movie's theme is about
insanity and how people on "the other side" of the wall view the term "insanity".

In chapter two of out text, the term "society" is defined as a group of people that share a
culture and common identity. This society is present when McMurphy is admitted to the
institution, but he changes it by developing relationships with the other patients. This can
be described as social influence. Social influence is where other people have an impact
on and change the thoughts, perceptions, and behaviors of others.

When McMurphy first arrives at the institution, the other patients follow a structure in the
institution where interactions with others are limited. Many of the patients are withdrawn
from others, and only follow the daily "routine" assigned to them. This is a society of order
and regulations, and the members of this society have a culture and common identity of
being "insane" and in the institution for medical treatment.

McMurphy changes this society by influencing the other patients. During his time in the
ward, McMurphy develops relationships with the other patients and teaches them to
interact with one another more completely. He also how to work towards what they
wanted with both their accommodations in the hospital, as well as their personal goals for
themselves and their success with their treatment.

While he is doing this, Nurse Ratchet becomes enraged at his attempt to change the
system she strongly encourages and abides by. There is an unspoken feud between the
two, and there is a role conflict between them as well. The role conflict is between the
power of the authority, and the obedience of the patient. Since McMurphy is expressing
his desire for change, he other patients follow his lead and also demand their own
desires. Nurse Ratchet begins losing her authority over the patients and McMurphy gains
influence over the patients.
The patients, led by McMurphy, form a group. This group interacts with one another, and
recognizes their identity through their involvement with each other. Since there is only a
group of patients in the entire ward that really interact with one another, this group
becomes a primary group. These are the select patients that grow close with each other
and possess common thoughts and desires.

There are specific norms in the institution that are expected to be followed by the
patients, as well as the employees of the ward. McMurphy and eventually, the other
inmates constantly violate these norms. For instance, McMurphy bribes a security guard
to allow his female friends into the ward with alcohol, and the patients have a party during
their sleeping time. No visitors are allowed, and certainly no alcohol, but the patients
enjoy themselves and disregard that they are violating a norm of the institution.

In chapter four of our text abstracts of cultures are defined. Non-material culture is
present both inside and outside of the institution. The patients outside of the institution
violated the aspects of non-material culture involving appropriate behaviors and patterns
of interaction. This is why they are living in the institution- they violated these norms of
behavior and interaction. Some of the patients were voluntary, but they felt that they were
inconsistent with the interactions with others in their personal lives. Others, like
McMurphy, were seen as dangerous or unhealthy to society, and their interactions or
behaviors were inappropriate when compared with the non-material culture of their
society.

Due to the violated norms and inappropriate interactions of these patients, sanctions
were the responses from the rest of society and also the medical staff of the institution.
For instance, since the patients in the hospital were seen as unsafe to society, others
sanctioned them by being placed in the institution. Also, when McMurphy violates the
norms of the institution by rioting with the other patients, and he attacks a hospital
orderly, he is given shock treatment to control his emotions and behavior. This sanction
was a medical treatment that was deemed necessary by the hospital staff because they
felt that McMurphy, as well as two other patients, were out of control and insubordinate to
the norms of the institution.

In chapter seven of our text medicalization is discussed further. Each of the inmates in
the institution are prescribed and administered medications by the hospital staff to control
their illnesses. In fact, there is one scene that emphasizes "medication time", and each of
the patients must take their prescribed medication in view of the head nurse. McMurphy
questions the contents of his medicine, and is refused any information, even though it is
his body the medicine is entering. This is a perfect example of medicalization, for these
patients do not have a choice of whether they feel medicine is necessary for their
treatment. The doctors make that decision for each patient based on their opinions and
"expertise". Many of these opinions are based on the ideals of absolutism, where the
doctors determine what is either absolutely right or wrong in the patient's behavior, and
when it is wrong, what medical treatments are necessary for them.

When the patient's do something that is considered wrong, it is defined as deviance. The
patient's deviance is determined by whether or not their action, idea, or attribute is
offensive, immoral, or strange to society. For example, McMurphy was originally
sentenced to a work camp, the crime he committed was statutory rape, which is
considered immoral to society.

The expectations of these patients are to behave, think, and interact in accordance with
society's ideals. Because the patients stray from these expectations, their actions are
considered violations. The reaction to these violations is first, the admittance to the
institution, and after that, medicalization of the deviants once they have entered the
institution.

Groupthink is present in the society of the patients, because at one instance, McMurphy
pressures the others into voting with him for a decision that is made by the entire ward.
This creates a unanimous vote among the primary group, and causes a patient outside of
the group to vote by his own rationalizations. In chapter eight of our text, groupthink is
defined as just that- the process where pressures to achieve a unanimous decision
influence and overwhelm other ability to decide for themselves.

In chapter nine of our text structures of society are discussed. This institution has the
structure of a bureaucracy. Although this is not a place of employment for the patients,
there are a set of rules and expectations that the patients are expected to follow, and the
doctors and staff rule the institution. There is also a division of labor present among the
staff, for certain employees have specific guidelines and defined duties for them to
complete and work by. And there is also a hierarchy of authority in the institution, for
certain professionals are deemed more important and therefore have more power and
authority over the other employees. For example, the head nurse has more authority than
the orderlies do, and the doctors have more authority than the head nurse does.

In chapter fifteen of our text social reconstruction is discussed. The patients, against
some of the regulations of the institution, take collective action. The patients begin to
violate the rules, and also voice their frustrations involving the policies they feel are wrong
or unnecessary. At group meetings, which are supervised and instructed by Nurse
Ratchet, the patients not only ask for change to fulfill their wants and needs, but they
demand them as well. The patients also show their demand for change by violating the
rules one evening, and having a large party after McMurphy bribes a security guard. The
ideology of the patients is that of the want for mental freedom and also more changes
they feel are necessary.

After the patients take their collective action against the authority of Nurse Ratchet and
the institution's policies and regulations, there is a collapse in the order of the ward. In
order for the staff of the hospital to regain control after the party the patients held, strict
sanctions are administered to some of the patients, and McMurphy receives a frontal
lobotomy as a "treatment" for his unwillingness to cooperate and abide by the rules and
norms.

After analyzing this movie, I now have a deeper understanding of many sociological
concepts, and also of mental institutions and the lives and mentalities of the patients in
them. I am very pleased that I chose this film, for it provided me with a lot to think about,
and it gave me a chance to see a more in depth look about "insanity" and the way it is
perceived by society. Although this movie was originally made for entertainment
purposes, I think that it is a key factor in the learning and understanding of sociology and
also psychology. I also think that it would provide a better understanding to all of us that
remain on the "sane" side of the wall.