Mesmer

Alan Rickman stars as Dr. Frantz Anton Mesmer, an Austrian physician in the 18th century who is considered to be the most influential figure in the development of hypnosis. Dr. Mesmer used magnets and metal frames in water to put his patients in a trance-like state in order to cleanse the magnetic forces in the body. He believed that a person�s emotional and mental state was directly related to physical illness. He felt that everyone had the ability to heal themselves of any disease just by breaking through the mental barriers and �re-aligning� the magnetic forces. (I believe they call it �life energy� today.)Dr. Mesmer did achieve success with his treatment but was ridiculed and ostracized by the medical community. The staid medical establishment of the time did not approve of Mesmer�s oftentimes theatrical performances and excessive showmanship. As a result, Mesmer was condemned by his medical colleagues and forced to leave Vienna. He practiced in Austria, Switzerland and Germany before settling in France.Mr. Rickman truly captures the charismatic and controversial character of Dr. Mesmer. This film shows how the physician practiced his craft but I felt it didn�t really explain how he developed his technique originally. (In fact, the film has a few unexplained gaps in it.) The movie focuses on two of Mesmer�s patients; one is the cousin of his wife, the other is a gifted musician he encounters at a recital. His wife�s cousin, a young girl, seems hopelessly brain damaged and he never really helps her. The musician is a beautiful young woman (Amanda Ooms) who is blind. Mesmer believes he can cure her blindness and becomes quite taken with her. He discovers that her father has been sexually abusing her since she was a young child. She lost her sight at the age of 3 and Mesmer believes that the abuse is perhaps what caused her blindness. The doctor�s treatment to help her regain her sight seemingly fails until she falls and bumps her head. The impression here is that the fall is what really restores her sight but Mesmer (and the woman) believes he did it. Also highlighted in the movie is Mesmer�s relationship with his wife, which is miserable. They seem to hate one another and I wondered why he married such a shrew in the first place. Another unexplained gap is when Mesmer is shown living in Paris for two years and you don�t know if he is still married or not.Even with the unexplained gaps this is still a very good movie. It is a must have for the Alan Rickman fan (which I am). I would have given it 5 stars except for the gaps and the ending, which leaves you hanging. After two years, the young woman is brought in to testify against Dr. Mesmer at a hearing. With her sight restored, the musician returned home and, in so doing, returned to her sexually abusive father. She felt abandoned by Mesmer and this, along with her father�s abuse, resulted in the loss of her sight yet again. The movie ends with Mesmer and her just sitting silently together. Maybe I missed something but I just didn�t get the ending. I�ll have to watch the movie again. Still, I do recommend it and perhaps you will find yourself mesmerized by it.

I have read other review on this board regarding this movie, and I saw a common theme of person's saying that the film was a bit hard to follow, even thought they liked it as a whole. I did not find the story difficult, but I did do some research prior to watching it. I did some reference work through my university, but also on something as accessible as wikipedia. If you look there, it gives you a lucid, coherent outline of Mesmer and his research, aw well as his methods of practice. If you gain a little background , then this movie flows beautifully!I found this movie to be amazingly filmed, and the acting, especially by Rickman was superb. I cannot think of another actor who can draw your attention and hold it without even having to speak, and then when he does, there is no other voice like it - silky, melodic, and can touch your very soul. Rickman himself is 'mesmerizing.'The sets and scenes shot for this film are breathtaking, and I believe that this film will captivate anyone who is fascinated in the rise of reason that was taking place in Europe during the 1600s-1700s. What you begin to realize is that Mesmer had truly discovered the power of magnetism, and its potential healing properties on the body. Sadly, this radicalism of thought was in its infancy, and therefore ultimately led to his undoing in a time of bloodletting. This film helps the viewer to see that despite the Enlightenment, there was still a profoundly medieval consensus of thought running through the scientific and medical worlds. The men who spoke of superstition and foolhardy practices being rooted out of their practice could not let go of antiquated harmful treatments themselves. They called Mesmer a charlatan and a fraud because his form of treatment was so unconventional and "perverse" to them, and yet when you see the forms of treatment that the conventional physicans were using at the time, you see the absurdity of their accusations.I highly reccommend this film. It is beautiful, it is wonderfully acted, and touching. It is also a profoundly enjoyable film that can be watched again and again. I do reccommend though, that you do a bit of research to acquaint yourself with Mesmer. This will help put the film into perspective. It will also make you realize and appreciate what an amazing job Alan Rickman did in portraying this man!

アランのファンなら買っとけというところか？アランのくどい演技が処々にちりばめられている。ラスプーチンに匹敵するハマリ役でしょう。ただ、アランの声がベルベット過ぎて何いってるのかいま一つわからない。バイリンガルの友達と見るべし。

中古だし９８０円だったから仕方ないんだろうけど、ノイズが凄かった・・・今まで、同じ位の価格の中古ＶＨＳを購入した事があったけど、こんなに品質の低いのは初めてでした。念願のアラン・リックマンの日本未公開作品のＭｅｓｍｅｒだったに・・・アランが映るとノイズが入る・・・残念です。

英語分からないくせに買って、ちょっと意味わからなくて・・・でもアランの声と行動が・・・嗚呼っキスシーンも有りでねえ・・・

Being an avid fan of Alan Rickman, I was bitterly disappointed with this offering. Slow from the start, desperately clinging on to a tenuous, unconvincing storyline. This film trails from one scene to another, crazy wailing and sceptical glances just about sum up the depth of this frustratingly , tiresome film. If you , as I am, are a true fan of Mr Rickman and all of his work... do yourself a huge favour and pass this one by. Not one of his best.

This film is something of an oddity. In terms of actual plot, it's fair to say that there isn't much of one, but that doesn't seem to matter. It's the rather dark story of Franz Anton Mesmer, a doctor in 18th century Austria who shocked and angered both the medical profession and polite society with his theories about energy and magnetism.Alan Rickman, who is always at his best when playing characters who are slightly contradictory and ambiguous, is excellent in the title role. Dennis Potter's screenplay never really comes to any judgement on Mesmer's abilities or character, leaving the audience to make up their own mind. What is clear throughout is that Mesmer doesn't much care what anybody else thinks of him, and that this alone in polite 18th century society was perhaps enough to turn his peers against him. Ironically, the polite society into which Mesmer's unhappy marriage to a vile widow has elevated him (Mesmer's father was a gamekeeper) conceals an unpleasant underbelly of cruelty and abuse, as is made clear by the relationship between Mesmer's blind patient and her hypocritical father, and by the hard-to-watch scenes in which Mesmer's stepson attempts to rape his mentally ill cousin. Franz Anton Mesmer himself is an intriguing blend of innocence and cunning, a man of genuine visionary spirit but whose vision is ultimately flawed, capable of great sensitivity but also of conceit.The supporting cast are also impressive, although the film does fall into the costume drama trap of extras made up of slightly unconvincing grubby-looking peasants with a range of deformities. There are a couple of scenes which don't quite work for me (hence four stars instead of five), one of which is unfortunately a key scene at the very start of the film. But overall, this is an interesting and, like all Dennis Potter's work, slightly unsettling film with a strong cast and sensitive direction.