Mesmer

'Mesmer' is an odd movie. On the face of it you'd think it would work quite well – beautiful period setting, interesting character, a score by Michael Nyman and Rickman, who makes a very charismatic lead. Unfortunately it went a bit wrong somewhere down the line and, as others have pointed out, it is quite hard to define where.

For me the two main players of the cast did a great job. Rickman presented Mesmer as charming but complex; Ooms brought plenty of emotion to her role as the blind pianist. Beyond this, however, there seemed little character development not helped by the relatively short runtime.

The plot just seemed...well...dull. There was very little feeling of direction and most of the scenes were very static affairs. There also seemed to be lots of duplication of material as Mesmer treated numerous people in, what looked like, very similar ways. Occasional slapstick moments, one in particular involving a certain throat complaint coming at the end of one of the most absorbing scenes in the movie, somewhat destroyed the tone. Another was a brief appearance of a very caricatured Marie Antoinette. Both seemed rather out of place and had the effect of pushing the extraordinary events of the story into absurdity.

Watch this film for the cast alone. As for the plot: if you know a little about Mesmer before watching you may find it more absorbing but for a novice like me there seemed very little substance beneath that beautiful period setting.

The first time I watched this movie, I was totally hooked. Alan Rickman does a phenomenal job of portraying the eighteenth century doctor. His appearance is so entrancing, and the way he treats his patient is so seducing. With him being my favorite actor of all time, I would love being treated by him. Just the way he caressed the girl and was so gentle with her. The bottom line is, this movie was totally AMAZING, and I LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!!! Great Job, Alan! :)

Was he a charlatan or a revolutionary in treating diseases of the mind? Hard to say, even after seeing the beautifully photographed movie. Our hindsight perspective is 100% but in the days of leeching, and bleeding to cure peoples' ills, the fact that he showed patients great attention and compassion was certainly a change. Mad people were usually penned up in Bedlam or some other horrid pigsty. Here, he is attempting bravely to take another tact in the unknown mysteries of mental illness. This movie also gives the scam-like aspects of his personality, as he beguiles the royal courtiers with his water therapies, touching them and arousing them, thus giving the semblance of 'healing'. I was reminded of the old-time revivals, and the sexy preachers coming close, putting hands-on the afflicted and shouting 'heal' and 'Hallelujah, sistuh'. Of course, if you're a repressed 'respectable woman', this is the only intimate way you can let a man not your husband touch you. His shrew of a wife, and utterly spiritually retarded stepson is beautifully played. I also like any movie that shows parts of the world I haven't seen, and this one gives us Vienna, parts of France and the costumes of 18th Century European civilization. It is NOT your everyday movie!!!! I would suggest viewing this one in series with bio-pics of Sigmund Freud and some of the other fighters of mental illness. Rickman is indeed magnetic in this one.

The jacket looked interesting and the subject matter is definitely interesting, but.....I found the movie disappointing....True, the main characters had situations that should have kept the viewer intent on the outcome, but.....the way it was handled left me, yes, disappointed. Also, there are many parts in the movie where the dialog is presented at so low a volume that I could not catch it all, a lot was almost mumbled....??? why??? for intimacy? I could not understand just exactly WHAT Mesmer's theory really was, except for the fact that in the end he confesses that as a child he saw that all of creation was in harmony except for people and he tried to relieve the pain and suffering he saw in humanity.....The psychological state of the blind pianist was indeed interesting though. The costumes of the period ARE worth seeing and by watching the way mental illness was handled in that day, one comes away thankful the same conditions do not exist now. Doctor Mesmer reacted to the suffering of others and was out of the norm in his treatment of them, but something was missing. It does show his empathy.

This is one of those films that should have been good, but wasn't. I have heard that they had major financial problems and, had there been a better budget, the movie could have been infinitely better.

Alan Rickman's performance as Mesmer is riveting. I can't imagine anyone's voice being better for this part! I could listen to Rickman read the phone book!! My other beef with this movie is the ending. It doesn't end...it just stops, leaving the viewer feeling like they missed something.

The costumes and the scenery are breath-taking, but that can't redeem it totally.

Not even Alan Rickman's voice can do that.