Altered States

Altered States

Sarah Guglia, Natasha Maltais, Brianna Molina & Elaine Weight

Knowing the Inner Self

Film Blog- Altered States

November 19th, 2017

Link to the trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaMVsxV8Tl4

Altered States (1980). Released December 25th, 1980. Directed by Ken Russell. The screenwriter is Paddy Chayefsky. The lead actors are William Hurt, Blair Brown, Bob Balaban and Charles Haid. The running time is 103 minutes. (Altered States, IMDb.com)

Review

Eddie Jessup is a psychologist who is studying schizophrenia in the late 1960’s with the help of his friend Arthur Rosenberg. Jessup begins doing experiments on himself with a sensory deprivation tank and eventually gets a hallucinatory drug from Mexico and experiments with it. He then uses the drug while in a sensory deprivation at a new lab. During this experiment, he says that he went into another state of consciousness, one dating from the human past. The third time he tries the drug he comes out of the tank as an ape in a primitive state. This does not stop him; in fact, it pushes him to try again this time with the support of his wife, Emily, Arthur, and colleague Mason Parrish. In this final time, the tank explodes and a vortex is formed where Edward can be found regressing into a small molecule that represents our first state of consciousness, the beginning of it all. After being saved by Emily, at the end Eddie and his wife together find themselves devolving into atomic particles and energy but luckily, Eddie manages to fight his way out of it and saves his wife.

There are numerous cinematic techniques used throughout the movie. To begin, the lighting in the movie creates various effects. When Edward is sitting with the tribe in Mexico, the lighting appears to be dark. This makes the scene much more mysterious and scary. Furthermore, during the hallucinations, there are a lot of bright fiery colors. These show the significance and intensity of the hallucinations. Another scene would be the one where Dr. Jessup and Emily first meet; Eddie appears in the door frame with strong backlighting giving the scene an effect of holiness that can portray love at first sight. Finally, there is a bright light when the tank breaks and when Edward is in the vortex. This light reveals the "truth"--the birth of consciousness.

As for the sets, the film takes place in New York then Boston. The main characters, Edward and Arthur, are working as scientists conducting research in the best universities found in the united states during the 1960’s. The main part of the film takes place in an old hospital room with dark brick walls behind the isolation tank. The hospital room has only a large window for the observer to watch the subject in the isolation tank. The other sets in the film are the apartments the scientists live in which is shown to be filled with people and furniture as they are in large crowded cities. The only objects in the hospital room consist of large machines to record data on the subject in the tank. This set is a reflection of the dark mysteries in the film as a contrast to the warm apartments the scientists live in. Like the scientist in the hospital room, we are about to discover something new that we know little about, which makes it quite frightening as we are not sure what we may find.

Significant props in the film consist of scientific machinery that measures the subject’s heart rate and physiological responses while they are inside the tank. From the moment the film begins, the audience is shown through these props that Edward and Arthur are conducting "scientific" research on people. It also reveals that the main characters are scientists who are on a quest to discover something new that is related to the human body,  in a way we have never seen before.

However, the most important props of the film are the isolation tanks that are filled with water. It is in these tanks that Dr. Jessup is able to wildly hallucinate as they permit him to regress to a primitive form and to further regress into a small molecule found at the beginning of life.Throughout the movie, the camera focuses on Eddie in the isolation tanks from above, revealing how small and vulnerable he is when he’s in the thank.

The first tank we see is in a tall cylinder shape and is copper color. It is placed in the center of the room and has a small circular window to see the subjects face and it is large enough to fit a grown man inside. When we first see this tank the camera is close up on the window so we can see the subject face inside the tank. Then, the camera slowly moves back so we can see the entire tank and the room it is in. There is a valve on top of the tank to open it so the subject can get in and out of the tank. The observer in the film describes the tank’s appearance as an old boiler, in order to open the tank he must climb up a ladder and turn the valve. The second tank used in the film looks like a large black rectangular box with a slanted door in the front that has a handle to pull open. This tank has no windows and it is in the center of the room. However, it is not as tall as the first one. The second tank evokes mystery and fear in the audience as we are unaware of what is going on inside. The isolation tanks feel like a portal to the inner mind of the subject. In the first tank, we can see the subjects hallucinations as if we are inside his mind. In the second tank, the subject describes to us what he is seeing and experiencing inside the tank with his voice.Not only do the tanks begin to isolate him from his family and colleagues but they also isolate him from society.

The costumes in the film take a look at human history through an anthropological view. Dr. Jessup is always naked while inside the tanks. He is only wearing, for some of his experiments, a glass bubble on his head, a pair of dark goggles and wires attached to his head to deprive him of all senses. His nakedness suggests that he is vulnerable and it represents him as Adam, the first man. When he is not inside the tank Jessup is wearing normal clothes such as jeans and a shirt. However, there are scenes where he is in his lab coat. This displays him as a hardworking scientist who works in labs, one who is ready to study the nature of the human mind.

Furthermore, when the movie progresses, Edward  is seen wearing a corny and stereotypical expedition outfit when he goes to Mexico. His wife similarly dresses up like him when she returns from her trip to Africa.While in the cave with the tribe we see the indigenous Mexicans whom all have white face paint and white clothing with red headbands. Moreover, when Jessup comes back to Boston and uses the substance he got from Mexico he transforms into a primitive man covered in hair almost ape-like. He is now more animal than human as he is in an altered state, one belonging to the first human.

The film uses many different kinds of sound. In the opening scene, we hear Dr. Jessup breathing heavily and the bubbles coming from inside the tank. This creates a very creepy mood and gives us a sense of what it is like to be in the tank. As the scene progresses into the observer's room we hear the sounds of the machines that are recording data and the needle that is moving back and forth against the paper at a steady rhythmic rate. These diegetic sounds help us to feel like we are in the same room as Eddie's colleague, Arthur, hearing what he is listening too. We also we hear Arthur's thoughts as he takes notes on the subject and the experiment. This is an internal diegetic sound. From this effect, we are able to understand what is going on in the scene. It also gives us more details about the experiment taking place and how it is affecting its subject. It makes us feel as if we are in the observer's head (Arthur's) as if we are in the scene.

Following this scene, we hear eery music as the opening credits begin to roll. This is a non-diegetic sound. The music makes us feel as if something dark and mysterious is on the way. It gives us an uneasy feeling about what is about to unfold and is quite dramatic.  

The theme of religion is present throughout the entire movie. It begins to expose itself at the very beginning when Edward comes out of the isolation tank. When asked what he saw he states as follows: “Variety of dream states, mystical states. A lot of religious allegories, mostly out of Revelation”.Later Edward is seen explaining to Emily the religious experience that comes with schizophrenia and reveals how he has “always been interested in interior experiences. Especially religious experience”. God, Jesus, and crucifixion are further mentioned when Jessup and Emily are having intercourse. Edward then reveals to us that he used to have visions of saints, angels, and Christ but that those visions died as well as his belief in God after the death of his father. This theme is strongly represented within the hallucinations. The hallucinations reveal striking images of a religious background such as a crucifix, Edward handing his father a bible, images of Jesus and images of hell. It is very uncommon to see scientists who have a deep spirituality and relationship towards religions as both science and religion are seen to be very contrasting and against each other. Most religious beliefs do not believe in certain scientific theories such as evolution. The same applies to science where religion is seen as nothing but a false belief. Finally, Eddie seems to embody both Adam the first man from the bible as well as the first human who evolved from the ape.

The question of where we come from is often mentioned and presented in the movie. Early on in the movie, Jessup expresses his desire to find the ultimate truth, to go back to the first thought and find out where we come from: “It is the self, the individual mind, that contains immortality and ultimate truth.” He is certain that there is a pathway to the earliest consciousness. Later in the movie, Edward takes a drug where he “ will return to the first soul” with the goal of finding out where he comes from. The question is brought up once again when Edward finds himself at the birth of man, during his hallucination, where the first human is formed. He goes back a few time to this first thought where he becomes a primitive ape. This is until Edward finally discovers the answer to the question “where do we come from”. He finds himself at the very first thought and where we are born “I was in that ultimate moment of terror that is the beginning of life”. He further tells us what the final truth is: “It is nothing. The final truth of all things is that there is no final truth”.

Word count 1,827

Quality of the film

The film's themes and ideas were well thought out and were quite thought-provoking. It was a mixture of science fiction and horror but in a realistic setting. It tackles a subject that is not very well known: the use of sensory deprivation tank in scientific lab experiments. The film is very uncommon from what you expect from a typical movie. It's clear that they took many controversial risks from the use of science and religion to the amount of nudity scenes in the film. We found it rather funny that a well- established scientist with a beautiful young family would rather go to Mexico and pursue this dangerous adventure to find his inner self than to settle down with his family. We thought that Eddie was a total asshole, who was too selfish to see what a great life he had with his family. We couldn't believe that his wife still wanted to be with him even though he wanted to get divorced because he felt that his family was holding him back from his scientific pursuit. To be honest, we weren't sure why she even wanted to marry him in the first place. In fact, we felt like Emily was kind of dumb to want to be with this man. We found Eddie to be very unlikable and almost a stereotypical man who’s aggressive and thinks he knows best . The reason we gave it only 2.5 stars was because we think that this film is so out there that most people will find it hard to understand as it has very complex themes that are not easy to grasp.William Hurt was intensely arrogant during the movie, therefore, he fitted well the description of his character: the mad scientist. Blair Brown also fit well her role as a lovely wife as she showed gentleness, as well as kindness. The only downfall of the film was the romantic element of it that seemed unnecessary and unrealistic. Emily appeared to be an intelligent woman who had everything going for her, it seemed very unrealistic for her to fall in love with someone so selfish and unloving.

http://www.danieladamsumw.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/2.5-Stars.png

Connections

1. We could connect this movie to the terms of immateriality and consciousness.This film suggest that consciousness is immaterial; therefore, that it is not made of any material and something that humans measure. At the end of the movie, Eddie is lost in a vortex. He is altering conscious states and going back in time. He regresses and becomes smaller and smaller as he is going toward human kind’s first thought. Edward tells us after this event that what he experienced was the ultimate moment of life and that he entered a pit. And in this pit there was nothing. He tells us that there is no truth to life and that at the beginning when we are in the very first state of consciousness there is simply nothing suggesting that consciousness is not material but simply immaterial nothingness.

2. Another observation in this film is when Eddie travels to Mexico and tries the hallucinogenic mushrooms for the first time. The chief says that his soul will return to the first soul: “ Your soul will return to the first soul.”(Chayefsky).This refers to the material soul. The chief and his tribe think that the soul can travel and that it is a physical being that is capable of changing to the very first soul. When a soul can change or move it means that it is a material and physical soul.

3. Moreover, during this film, the core or minimal self is also brought up. This happens when Eddie transforms into an ape-like human after his 4th experiment. While he is in this altered state he has basic body functions and can coordinate with himself. He is not observing himself or reflecting upon himself as he is simply trying to survive by demonstrating primitive instincts: “I’m becoming one of them...I’m killing a goat”. This further suggests that he is aware of his surroundings as his awareness and consciousness are immediate. While Eddie is in the core/minimal self he is killing a goat for food, looking to hunt and searching for a place to sleep. He follows the dogs as if he is a part of their tribe. He later tells how happy he was when all he could think about was survival and how peaceful and quiet it is to simply be a minimal self: “ Utter tranquility, but alive.”

Questions

1. If you had the chance to go back to the primitive self (first human) by altering your state of consciousness would you dare to do it?

2. Would you ever try a sensory deprivation tank? Why or why not?

3. Do you think Emily made the right choice by staying with Dr. Jessup?

Links

Want to learn more about sensory deprivation tanks, its history and the man behind the machine? John C Lilly was famous for his strange experiments and his desire to expand the mind. This link will lead you to everything you could possibly want to know about sensory deprivation tanks including first-hand accounts of what it is really like inside.

http://bigthink.com/21st-century-spirituality/the-altered-states-of-sensory-deprivation

For more information on themes and topic covered in the film, as well as detailed information about the people involved in creating the film, this link will give you a new perspective on the film, as well as character analysis and much more. A summary of the film and thought-provoking questions are included.

http://classic-horror.com/reviews/altered_states_1980

Works Cited

“Altered States (1980).” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt0080360/.

“Altered States.” Where to Float. www.where-to-float.com/altered-states/.

Barkan, Jonathan. “Waxwork Records to Release OST for ‘Altered States’.” Bloody Disgusting!, June 20th,    2016. bloody-disgusting.com/music/3395395/waxwork-records-release-ost-altered-states/.