Name: Electric Malady
Genre: Documentary
Released: 2023-03-03
Duration: 1 h 24 min
Rating: 6.6

A thought-provoking and unsettling documentary

I saw this as a preview and it is due for release on March 3rd.

Positives: 
* A good documentary should shine a spotlight on a topic that you have no idea about, and "Electric Malady" did just that. Although I vaguely remember a lot of concern about holding mobile phones up to your head, way back when they first became mainstream, I was not aware of this as a 'condition'.



* William seems to be an extreme case, but you can't help but me moved by his plight: shuffling around his little remote cabin, blankets over his head looking like E. T. at Halloween; his poor parents trying to help in whatever way they can; his obvious despair that his once girlfriend Marie now has a new life, with a husband and kids. It's heartbreaking. And Marie Lidén catches all of that perfectly.



* The opening is cleverly done: the father showing a 'cage' he has built for his own son. Without knowledge of the background, you wonder if you are going to be watching "The Elephant Man" or something!



* At just 84 minutes - a novelty for most of the 'award films' this year! - the film doesn't outstay its welcome.



* It's artfully shot, with nice shots of the Swedish countryside and interesting uses of colour flashing on some of the edits. This is a talented female filmmaker, taking good subject matter and making it great through well-thought-through editing.



* A quote from the WHO in the closing moments is a jaw-dropper and well done.



* Loved the score by John Lemke, especially the quietly persistent piece over the end-titles.


Negatives: 
* This is a factual representation of William's life, but it only goes that far. It left me with a lot more questions than answers. Above all, was this "real" in a physical sense? Or were his symptoms purely psychological? As a former scientist, it left me longing for some of the scientific background behind the claims - some talking science heads might have added more to the background. Or even some practical guinea-pig (or perhaps canary) research. I longed for one of the visitors to quietly turn on a wi-fi router inside his Faraday Cage to see if that really did make him feel pain. (By the way, post-watching I was doing some googling and papers seem to certainly suggest this is a real thing, affecting possibly millions of people around the world to a greater or lesser extent).



* Often when I watch a documentary like this, I think of Heisenberg's theory of observation. That is, where research involving measurement or observation directly alters the phenomenon under investigation. There are a few moments in the film - a car reversing out of a drive; the father walking up to the hut and then in through the door, etc. - where (assuming there was only one camera) you saw the filmmaker's camera set-ups. "OK sir - I'll film you coming up to the dooe. Then let me go in and I'll film you coming into the hut". (Echoes of William Hurt's single-camera teary interview in "Broadcast News"!).


Summary Thoughts on "Electric Malady": This is a cracking debut feature from Marie Lidén, and a well deserved BAFTA nomination. The film is unsettling and thought-provoking and makes you suddenly appreciate your health and freedom and fear for how quickly both can get ripped away from you.

(For the full graphical review, please check out One Mann's Movies at onemannsmovies dot com. Thanks. )

Swedish cinema is renowned for psychological depth, austere beauty, and philosophical inquiry. It often focuses on existential questions and societal critique, marked by a stark visual approach. In contemporary times, it has also developed a sharp satirical edge in examining social issues.

Max von Sydow and Bengt Ekerot in The Seventh Seal (1957)

The documentary is a form of non-fiction storytelling that aims to present factual information, insights, and perspectives on real-world subjects, events, issues, or people. Documentaries can cover a wide range of topics, including history, science, culture, social issues, nature, biographies, and more.

Dziga Vertov in Man with a Movie Camera (1929)

An intimate window into William's isolated world and a moving and poignant depiction of a family, devoted to finding a way to save their son.

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