David and Lisa (1962) is one of such films. Carrying profundity and heart towards the then-taboo subject of mental health with care humanity at the time where the subject was looked down upon is a reason for this film to be remembered today.

However, there's more than heart in this underrated film, in that it tells us about life, death, love, and growth.

(note: NG means Not Good — the opposite of OK)

Even before the New Hollywood era of American cinema, the early-1960s was already a time period of challenges in the world of celluloid dark rooms. Films such as The Apartment (1960) and A Child is Waiting (1963) were challenging the world of American cinema with portrayals of mental health and mental problems that are sympathetic to the subjects with these conditions and does not demonize them or painting them as 'scary'.

David and Lisa (1962) nests among those films. Directed by Frank Perry —– who would later direct the infamous Mommie Dearest (1981) —– and written by his then-partner Eleanor, based on the book Jordi/Lisa and David by Theodore Isaac Rubin, it tells the story of David Clemens (Keir Dullea), a 16-year-old teenager with fear of being touched. David is being admitted in a psychiatric hospital by his mother with hopes that the hospital and Dr. Swinford (Howard da Silva) will bring David to a cure. However, David remains withdrawn from the other patients and Dr. Swinford until he caught the attention of Lisa Brandt (Janet Margolin), a girl with two personalities; Lisa — who can only speak in rhymes, and Muriel — a mute. Slowly, both gets drawn to each other and opens up to their issues.

Right from the start, it is clear that the film isn't seeking to be a 'scary' tale of mentally unwell people, but to humanise them. The lovely score by Mark Lawrence gives the film a feeling of melancholia mixed with teen melodrama right at the beginning. This tone stays consistent throughout the film, and while it gives off the feeling of 'teen melodrama', it is quite effective in capturing emotions.

The portrayal of mental illness and treatments of mental illness among teenagers certainly deviated from the stereotypes and stigmas associated to it from the 1960s. It is certainly no One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), as David and Lisa (1962) instead focuses on the humanity of these young people with problems, and framing it as an coming-of-age story heightened the humanity present in the film, and arguably, makes the film ahead of its time, and yet, even today, this film still manages to be more respectful on portrayals of teenage mental issues, even managing to portray the topic of generational trauma —– that the world of (western) cinema has recently picked up lately. One noticeable trait of this film is how the teenagers act —– they're not 'crazy teenagers', they're simply teenagers with problems. Again, it's less One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), and more West Side Story (1961) from the natural way the teens act with distinct personalities (especially Carlos, played by Jaime Sanchez).

Ultimately, this film focuses on David whose fear of being touched is portrayed as a result of generational trauma as his mother recalls her harsh life and how it affects her way of raising David and wanting David to appear respectable and 'normal', resulting in David seeing a touch as something that forces him to conform to the image of respectability, and manifested into him not wanting to be touched to avoid inheriting his mother's generational trauma. Which unfortunately can be mistaken as Freudian manifestation stemming from his feelings towards his mother for viewers who are unfamiliar with the concept of generational trauma.

Notably, David starts the film as a child with a fear of death (what his fear of touch is about) and as the film goes, we see him become accustomed to life, and goes from merely living to being alive. In the end we see David actually alive, which is what this film's thesis is ultimately about: What being alive actually is David and Lisa approaches the subject through the love story between the haunted-by-death David and the living-but-sheltered Lisa where both of them finally gets over their issues together and grow up.

Another notable aspect of David and Lisa is the way the film discusses David's fear of death through the theme of the linear nature of time and inevitability gives the film an almost Ingmar Bergman-ish sensibilities, complete with the natural black-and-white photography that gives the film a similar feeling to Bergman's earlier input from 1950s, with David and Lisa having a similar look and feel to Bergman's Summer With Monika (1953) in particular, although this film is sprinkled with fantastical visuals of the clock-guillotine dream that adds a whimsical quality to it. Previously, I have described this film as closer to West Side Story (1961) but this film felt like what if 1950s Ingmar Bergman did something similar to West Side Story (1961) as a drama.

As far as the acting goes, the melodramatic tone does a good favor for the actors in this film. But in particular, Keir Dullea's performance might appear to be 'robotic', but he gave David an interesting growth in that he went from being insufferably 'less emotional' to endearing without being exaggerated. David has a really precise diction, calculated movement, and a certain kind of rigidity that hides his inner pain and closes the path to his soul through the way Dullea portrays David with his expressive eyes (the windows to David's soul —– the only path that is open to others) that could tell many emotions from slight movements, and as the film goes, David becomes more open in his emotions and pain in subtle changes in body motions and expressions without changing too much, it feels that his calculated movements accommodates to his changing openness to emotions. He feels complementary to Lisa's bubbly personality instead of clashing with her as a result. Also the way David talks and shouts feels oddly prescient of the behaviours of Gen Z teens on social media. It is a performance with purpose that feels rewarding, and is clear why this was Dullea's breakout role that established him as an exciting new talent at the time.

Similarly, Janet Margolin felt as she was born to play the role. Her natural beauty works well for the rougher-edged Lisa, and same goes for her performance, she never felt like a 'Manic Pixie Dream Girl' as we clearly see her flaws and how she grows out from it, while hoping that David will come through. She looks like a friend you'd have in real life. Margolin not only plays Lisa sympathetically, but she portrays Lisa's glowing heart in a natural, non-artificial (or exaggerated cuteness) way.

The supporting cast, as previously mentioned before, realistically act much like actual teenagers that heightens the setting. While there are criticisms of how the characters felt a little bit like 'spectacles', this film does remind you that the characters are teenagers. Teenagers acts like that, and David and Lisa felt that the expressive aspect of teenagers is well-shown. Everything about David and Lisa felt alive and 'lived' as a result, giving the impression of the viewer as 'living' with the characters. Special mention to Howard da Silva who portrays Dr. Swinford with full grace and affection that tells us that the children in the psychiatric hospital are well-loved as human beings with actual lives. Another mention to make is Simon, played by Matthew Anden, who provides queer subtext (per the usual for 1960s American films) via his affection for David being more than a friendly affection as evidenced in him wanting David to be friends, with his dismissal of Lisa being a feeling of slight jealousy.

The weakness of David and Lisa, despite the very strong qualities it has —— is the lack of focus on Lisa. This might be attributed to the fact that the original book did not focus on her. While Lisa is given her own story of growing up and opening herself up to others after a long time of isolation all for love (David living in her system!) and care (there is a subtle motif that alludes to this throughout the film), there's still something lacking about Lisa, despite the wonderful performance by Janet Margolin.

Still, David and Lisa remains a strong, wonderful, and heartful work deserving of a second chance that dared to show something 'new' at the time as normal and loving. It is full of heart, wants you to see a reality unseen, feel the reality and step out from the cages of the facade of 'respectability' (a.k.a the illusion of 'normality'). This is a film deserving of a Criterion Collection release, although you can watch this film for free (with ads) in TUBI.

Although forgotten for years, this film acts as a sort-of precursor in the genre of dramas that deals with young people with mental health and mental illness set in psychiatric hospitals such as Girl, Interrupted (1999), I'm A Cyborg, But That's OK (2006) from famed director Park Chan-wook, It's A Kind of Funny Story (2010), The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), and most recently in 2023, the music video for OMG by NewJeans (which has unintentional parallels to David and Lisa).

David and Lisa eventually don't let eachother go, they're right there for eachother 24....

#film #Review #OdysseyOfMichiru #OMG #NewjeansNeverDie