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Head Against the Wall
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Wikipedia article
'Head Against the Wall' is a 1959 French drama film directed by Georges Franju which stars Pierre Brasseur, Paul Meurisse, Jean-Pierre Mocky, Anouk Aime, and Charles Aznavour. Called 'The Keepers' on its English release, the story follows an aimless young man who is institutionalized for defying his wealthy father, and in the process airs several questions about how society defines and treats mental illness.
Plot
Franois, motherless son of an influential lawyer, has no qualifications, and no job. To mix with rich and superficial friends, he has borrowed money that he cannot repay. In desperation, he breaks into his father's desk, steals his cash, and wantonly burns his legal documents. Rather than call in the police, with the connivance of a doctor, his father has him committed to an isolated psychiatric hospital in the country.
There, he discovers that many of the inmates are not seriously deranged, but that Dr Varmont, the head of the institution, is a man of rigid views. Two friends he makes are Lenoir, a criminal hiding from gangland revenge, and Heurtevent, a gentle epileptic. To his joy, on the first Sunday, he has a visitor: This is Stphanie, a girl he met on his last night of freedom, who knows he is not insane and urges him to get a grip of his life. His father visits after he tells Dr Varmont he wants to be reconciled, but the meeting is a failure, and release seems remote. With Heurtevent, he breaks out, but when his friend collapses in an epileptic seizure, the two are re-captured. In despair, Heurtevent hangs himself.
As the hospital cemetery is outside the walls, Franois plans another escape during the funeral. Lenoir gives him an address in Paris where he can get a bed and a job. Making a successful getaway, he calls at the address to find it is an illegal gambling den. Unsure if that is a world he wants to be in, he goes unannounced to Stphanie's room, where she welcomes him, and they spend the night together. In the morning, two plainclothes men call, to be told by Stphanie she knows nothing of his whereabouts. As soon as they have gone, Franois slips out, and, caught by them on the stairs, is rushed back to the asylum.
Cast
Soundtrack
Decades after the film's original release, in February 2005, the French soundtrack record label Play Time released the soundtrack on compact disc, along with other soundtracks performed by Maurice Jarre. This also includes soundtracks from other Franju films, including 'Eyes Without a Face' and 'Thrse Desqueyroux'.
Track listing
References
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