Aronofsky’s first feature film is discussed in terms of its closeness to autistic meltdown, an affect that appears rarely in film, driven by the character’s fascination with patterns, a propensity for maths as the language of the universe and a magical number. Computers feature heavily in the film, debated as either a potentially problematic alliance between autism and automatism, or possibly autistic attention to the material world and its many capacities. The film’s ending proves controversial: does it suggest that lobotomy is the only way to end suffering for Max, that there is no place in this world for neurodiversity?
Discussants: Georgia Bradburn, Janet Harbord, David Hartley, Alex Widdowson.
Email us your thoughts at cinemautism@gmail.com
50th Episode Special
The Revenant (2015) dir. Alejandro González Iñárritu
Voice (2023) dir. Ana Hjort Guttu
Doctor Who: The Tenth Planet (1966) dir. Derek Martinus (Part Two)
Doctor Who: The Tenth Planet (1966) dir. by Derek Martinus (Part One)
Isaac Julien: What Freedom is to Me (2023), TATE Britain Exhibition.
Live Event Preview: Still Lives (2023) at The Garden Cinema
Blade Runner (1982) dir. Ridley Scott
Raw (2016)
ET: The Extra Terrestrial (1982) with Sam Chown-Ahern
Harold & Maude (1971) dir. Hal Ashby, with Andrew Brenner
Tomboy (2011) dir. Celine Sciamma with Sophie Broadgate
Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) dir. Chantal Akerman
The Falls (1980) dir. Peter Greenaway
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010) dir. Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Special Episode: Relaxed Screenings with Maggi Hurt (BFI)
The Secret Garden (1993) dir. Agnieszka Holland with Sophia Rose O’Rourke
Scanners (1981) dir. David Cronenberg
Pierrot le Fou (1965) dir Jean-Luc Godard
Sayonara CP (1972) dir. Kazuo Hara with Richard Butchins
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