Der lange Weg aus der Nacht

I have been living with a paranoid schizophrenic son for most of almost thirty years. This diagnosis is considered the most serious of all mental illnesses and is devastating to the entire family. Why is it the most tragic of all illnesses? Because you don't die from it. Instead most of those suffering with it live in utter torment their entire lives. Most never leave the self-imposed confines of their darkened rooms.

Diana Ross's portrayal of one suffering with this disease was brilliant. She should have won some kind of award -- at least some kind of recognition for her role. She was brilliant and, if anything, understated in her performance. She only touched the surface of the tragic sufferings of this horrendous brain disease.

Kudos for Diana!

Diana gives a wonderful performance in this very important work. Before I saw this, I hadn't thought much about mental illnesses - I found her portrait to be vivid and honest. This is a difficult subject matter, and I thank Diana for having the courage to do this disturbing work.

This film was very well presented, with good performances. It is sad, and does not distort or exaggerate as many other films have, regarding mental and/or emotional disorders.

Diana Ross is very good as Paulie, a once brilliant pre-med student, who can no longer function due to paranoid schizophrenia.

Rhonda Stubbins-White is also very good as the sister, who wishes everything would just "get back to normal". The actress who portrays Ross' mother is also very good. There is also a cameo with Lindsay Crouse, who attempts to help Paulie in a new day treatment program.

Some of the scenes are disturbing, and anyone who may have experienced situations like this in real life may find it close to the truth. Ross gives the audience an excellent portrayal of the disorder, living in her own world, and enduring many medications and hospitalizations.

Finally, she is given a new medication which actually works. The scenes are very well-done, as she is sitting outside the medical school, suddenly feeling like she wants to live life again.

What I particularly appreciated about the message in this film was that, Paulie recovers in her own time; at age 44, she must learn to re-live the rest of her life, even though she lost 18 years in the hospital, due to the illness. The film does not condescend or fault the patient, she is merely doing the best she can to cope with a destructive illness.

At the conclusion, we see Paulie as she is functioning, ready to finish school. On the way, she sees a homeless woman. She leaves her some food, reflecting on how alienated some people are, and how fortunate she was, to have received effective treatment. 9/10.

Diana Ross truly reigns Supreme in this made for '94 TV movie about a 43 yr. old former doctor battling Paranoid Schizophrenia. This is one of those memorable "TV Movies" that is actually too good for TV. Gone are the typical TV movie clichés', obvious character developing scenes, and silly subplots. Portraying a paranoid schizophrenic convincingly when you are one of the most famous and glamorous entertainers on the planet must not be an easy task, but from the very first scene Miss Ross pulls it off. This is a heart breaking story of a former doctor who struggles with the illness for 20 years. After countless bouts with hospitals, mental institutions, shock therapy, and treatment centers a new experimental drug finally offers hope. The story examines how the disease really effects an entire family and the supporting cast is superb as well. Ross was nominated for and Emmy for her performance and won many others.

Diana Ross is gripping as a 42-year-old woman just finished with her third year of medical school who is sidelined by a particularly destructive bout of paranoid schizophrenia, a condition she's aware of and has lived with since her mid-20s. The delusions and voices come and go, but when a kindly doctor intervenes with a new drug, Ross has a chance to actually rebuild her life. A sensitive, educational TV-film that strives--and perhaps stresses a might too hard--to teach the viewer something about mental illness (as well as the shame family members feel about the disease, and their eventual acceptance of it). It's a heady acting vehicle for La Ross: she takes on this highly dramatic, unglamorous (and some may say well-trodden) role and gives it bitterness, rage, confusion and, finally, hope. The narrative is engineered to relay the overall goodness of our medical community (which may seem like a stretch to Ross' character, having been hospitalized over 40 times), while the writing is occasionally too flowery. Still, a disturbing and moving effort, with a gem of an ending.