"Lilith" is a film with some good and some bad. Overall, I'd give it a 5...mostly because Warren Beatty was new to starring in films and he was wooden and too quiet. He did improve later and became a fine actor....so I am not attacking him. I just think the film was more than he could yet handle well as an actor. Jean Seberg, on the other hand, was pretty amazing....and it's such a darn shame her life spiraled out of control and she killed herself.
The name 'Lilith' is from Mesopotamian and early Hebrew literature. She's a fictional character who supposedly was Adam's first wife (don't ask me how that was possible). She also was spiteful, a sexual siren and vicious....so you can guess where this is going when you watch the film.
When the story begins, Vincent (Beatty) is hired by a sanitarium to work with mentally ill patients. This is odd since he has no training whatsoever in it and they train him by tossing him in with them and offering him some guidance, though in hindsight this was a HUGE mistake. Over time, he forms a relationship with a patient, Lilith (Seberg) and she captivates him even though she clearly is schizophrenic and manipulative. Soon, they begin a sexual relationship and big things result from it...well, duh!
I actually worked in a mental hospital long, long ago and was shocked that in the film they hired folks with no formal training in psychology. Perhaps that was normal for the 1960s. I also was shocked because there was hardly any supervision over him AND the staff encouraged him to have very poor boundaries with the patients. In particular, seeing him in a closed room alone with the beautiful Lilith is hard to believe, though again, perhaps in the 1960s this wasn't so weird. All I know is that it seemed like a recipe for disaster and the trained psychotherapist within me was on edge. Now these are NOT complaints...just some insights into how I reacted to the film.
As for the movie, as I mentioned above, Beatty was the main problem I had with the movie. He barely talked (which was VERY odd) and he seemed wooden and unnatural It's a shame, as the film is thought-provoking and interesting but really fell flat for me. An interesting but flawed film...and among Seberg's best work.
The name 'Lilith' is from Mesopotamian and early Hebrew literature. She's a fictional character who supposedly was Adam's first wife (don't ask me how that was possible). She also was spiteful, a sexual siren and vicious....so you can guess where this is going when you watch the film.
When the story begins, Vincent (Beatty) is hired by a sanitarium to work with mentally ill patients. This is odd since he has no training whatsoever in it and they train him by tossing him in with them and offering him some guidance, though in hindsight this was a HUGE mistake. Over time, he forms a relationship with a patient, Lilith (Seberg) and she captivates him even though she clearly is schizophrenic and manipulative. Soon, they begin a sexual relationship and big things result from it...well, duh!
I actually worked in a mental hospital long, long ago and was shocked that in the film they hired folks with no formal training in psychology. Perhaps that was normal for the 1960s. I also was shocked because there was hardly any supervision over him AND the staff encouraged him to have very poor boundaries with the patients. In particular, seeing him in a closed room alone with the beautiful Lilith is hard to believe, though again, perhaps in the 1960s this wasn't so weird. All I know is that it seemed like a recipe for disaster and the trained psychotherapist within me was on edge. Now these are NOT complaints...just some insights into how I reacted to the film.
As for the movie, as I mentioned above, Beatty was the main problem I had with the movie. He barely talked (which was VERY odd) and he seemed wooden and unnatural It's a shame, as the film is thought-provoking and interesting but really fell flat for me. An interesting but flawed film...and among Seberg's best work.